Völsunga saga: the story of the Volsungs and Niblungs, with certain songs ...

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IC^ a X* SAG{\ 3)

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Zbe Camelot Setfee*

Edited by Ernisst Rhys.

THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS.

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VOLSUNGA SAGA: THE STORY OF
THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS,
WITH CERTAIN SONGS FROM
THE ELDER EDDA. EDITED, WITH
INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY
H. HALLIDAY SPARLING.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC BY EIR^KR
MAGNl5sS0N (TRANSLATOR OF "LEGENDS OF
ICELAND"); AND WILLIAM MORRIS (AUTHOR OF
"THE EARTHLY PARADISE").

WALTER SCOTT
LONDON: 24 WARWICK LANE

PATERNOSTER ROW
1888

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CONTENTS.

PAGB

Introduction . . . . , . ix

Translators^ Preface ..... xxxix

NameSy &>£, ..... xlix

A Prologue in Verse . . . . li

CHAP.

I. Of Sigi, the Son of Odin . . . i.

II. Of the Birth of Volsung, the Son of Rerir^ who

was the Son of Sigi . . . .3

III. Of the Sword that Sigmund, Volsun^s

Son^ drew from the Branstock . . 6

IV. How King Siggeir wedded Signy^ and bade

King Volsung and his Son to Gothland 9

V. Of the Slaying of King Volsung . . ii

VI. Of how Signy sent the Children of her and

Siggeir to Sigmund . . • ^5

VII. Of the Birth of Sinfjotli, the Son of Sig-
mund . . . . 'I?
VIII. The Death of King Siggeir and of Signy . 20
IX. How Helgiy the Son of Sigmund^ won King
Hodbrod and his Realm^ and Wedded
Sigrun 27

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vi CONTENTS,

CHAP. PAGE

X. The Ending of Sinfjotlt^ Sigmund's Son . 32

XI. Of King Sigmund's last Battle^ and of how

he must yield up his Sword again . 35

XI I. Of the Shards of the Sivord Gram, and

hoiif Hjordis went to King Alf . 38

XIII. Of the Birth and Waxing of Sigurd Faf

nir'S'bane • . . . .42

XIV. Regin's tale of his Brothers, and of the

Gold called AndvarCs Hoard . . 46

XV. Of the Welding together of the Shards of

the Sivora Gram . . .50

XVL The Prophecy of Grifir . .52

XVII. Of Sigurd's Avenging of Sigmund his

Father . . . '53

XVI 1 1. Of the Slaying of the Worm Faf nir . 58

XIX. Of the Slaying of Regin, Son of Hreidmar 63
XX. Of Sigurd's Meeting with Brynhild on the

Mountain . . . .68

XXI. More Wise Words of Brynhild . 76

X!XII. Of the Semblance and Array of Sigurd

Fafnir' S'bane . . • 7^

XXI II. Sigurd comes to Hlymdale . . 80

XXIV. Sigurd sees Brynhild at Hlymdale . 82
XXV. Of the Dream of Gudrun, Giuki's

Daughter . . . .86

XXVI. Sigurd comes to the Giukings and is

wedded to Gudrun . . .90

XXVII. The Wooing of Brynhild . . 94

XXVIII. How the Queens held angry converse to-
gether at the Bathing . . 98

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CONTENTS, vii

CHAP. PAGE

XXIX. Of Brynhild's Grief and Mourning . 102

XXX. Of the Slaying of Sigurd Fafnif^ s-bane . 109

XXXI. Of the Lamentation of Gudrun over Si-
gurd dead^ as it is told in the ancient
Songs . . . .114

XXXII. Of the Ending oj Brynhild . .122

XXXIII. Gudrun wedded to Atli . .125

XXXIV. Atli bids the Giukings to him . .130

XXXV. TJu Dreams of the Wives of the Giukings 134

XXXVI. Of the Journey of the, Giukings to King

Atli . . . .136

XXXVII. The Battle in the Burg of King Atli . 139

XXXYlll. Of the Slaying of the Giukings . . 142

XXXIX. The End of Atli and his Kin and Folk . 146

XL. How Gudrun cast herself into the Sea^ but

was brought ashore again . • ^5^

XLI. Of the Wedding and Slaying of Swanhild 152
XLII. Gudfun sends her Sons to avenge Swan-
hild . . . . .155

XLIII. The Latter End of all the Kin of the

Giukings . . . '157

SONGS FROM THE ELDER EDDA.

Part of the Second Lay of Helgi Hundings-

bane ...... 163

Part of the Lay of Sigrdrija . . .172

The Lay called the Short Lay of Sigurd . . 176

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viii CONTENTS.

PAGE

The HeU-Ride of Brynhild .

. 197

Fragments of the Lay of Brynhild

. 202

The Second or Ancient Lay of Gudrun

. 209

The Song of Atli ....

. 223

The Whetting of Gudrun

237

The Lay of Hamdir . . . .

244

The Lament of Oddrun . . .

253

Index, . . . . .

263

Book-list .,...,

267

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T would seem fitting for a Northern
folk, deriving the greater and better
part of their speech, laws, and customs
from a Northern root, that the North
^ should be to them, if not a holy land,
yet at least a place more to be regarded than any
part of the world beside ; that howsoever their know-
ledge widened of other men, the faith and deeds of
their forefathers would never lack interest for them,
but would always be kept in remembrance. One
cause after another has, however, aided in turning
attention to classic men and lands at the cost of our
own history. Among battles, "every schoolboy'*
knows the story of Marathon or Salamis, while it
would be hard indeed to find one who did more than
recognise the name, if even that, of the great fights of
Hafrsfirth or Sticklestead. The language and history
of Greece and Rome, their laws and religions, have

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X INTRODUCTION.

been always held part of the learning needful to an
educated man, but no trouble has been taken to
make him familiar with his own people or their
tongue. Even that Englishman' who knew Alfred,
Bede, Caedmon, as well as he knew Plato, Caesar,
Cicero, or Pericles, would be hard bestead were he
asked about the great peoples from whom we sprang;
the warring of Harold Fairhair or Saint Olaf; the
Viking* kingdoms in these (the British) Western
Isles; the settlement of Iceland, or even of Normandy.
The knowledge of all these things would now be
even smaller than it is among us wqre it not that
there was one land left where the olden learning
found refuge and was kept in being. In England,
Germany, and the rest of Europe, what is left of the
traditions of pagan times has been altered in a
thousand ways by foreign influence, even as the
peoples and their speech have been by the influx
of foreign blood ; but Iceland held to the old tongue
that was once the universal speech of northern folk,
and held also the great stores of tale and poem that
are slowly becoming once more the common heritage
of their descendants. The truth, care, and literary
beauty of its records ; the varied and strong life shown
alike in tale and history ; and the preservation of
the old speech, character, and tradition — a people
placed apart as the Icelanders have been — combine
to make valuable what Iceland holds for us. Not
before 1770, when Bishop Percy translated Mallet's

* Viking (Ice. Vikingr ; vik, a bay or creek, ingr, belonging to, or
men of) freebooters.

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INTRODUCTION. xi

Northern Antiquities, was an)^hing known here of
Icelandic, or its literature. Only within the latter
part of this century has it been studied, and in the
brief book-list at the end of this volume may be seen
the little that has been done as yet. It is, however,
becoming ever clearer, and to an increasing nuhiber,
how supremely important is Icelandic as a word-
hoard to the English-speaking peoples, and that
in its legend, song, and story there is a very mine of
noble and pleasant beauty and high manhood. That
which has been done, one may hope, is but the
beginning of a great new birth, that shall give back
to our language and literature all that heedlessness
and ignorance bid fair for awhile to destroy.

The Scando-Gothic peoples who poured southward
and westward over Europe, to shake empires and
found. kingdoms, to meet Greek and Roman in con-
flict, and levy tribute everywhere, had kept up their
constantly-recruited waves of incursion, until they
had raised a barrier of their own blood. It was their
own kin, the sons of earlier invaders, who stayed the
landward march of the Northmen in the time of
Charlemagne. To the Southlands their road by land
was henceforth closed. Then begins the day of the
Vikings, who, for two hundred years and more, " held
the world at ransom." Under many and brave leaders
they first of all came round the "Western Isles"*
toward the end of the eighth century ; soon after they
invaded Normandy, and harried the coasts of France;
gradually they lengthened their voyages until there .
* ** West over the Sea " is the word for the British Isles.

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xii INTRODUCTION.

was no shore of the then known world upon which
they were unseen or unfelt A glance at English
history will show the large part of it they fill, and
how they took tribute from the Anglo-Saxons, who,
by the way, were far nearer kin to them than is
usually thought. In Ireland, where the old civilisa-
tion was falling to pieces, they founded kingdoms
at Limerick and Dublin among other places ;* the
last named, of which the first king, Olaf the White, was
traditionally descended of Sigurd the Volsung,t en-
dured even to the English invasion, when it was taken
by men of the same Viking blood a little altered. What
effect they produced upon the natives may be seen
from the description given by the unknown historian
of the Wars of the Gaedhil with the Gaill: — " In a
word, although there were an hundred hard-steeled
iron heads on one neck, and an hundred sharp, ready,
cool, never-rustmg brazen tongues in each head, and
an hundred garrulous, loud, unceasing voices from
each tongue, they could not recount, or narrate, or
enumerate, or tell what all the Gaedhil suffered in
common — both men and women, laity and clergy, old
and young, noble and ignoble — of hardship, and of
injury, and of oppression, in every house, from these
valiant, wrathful, purely pagan people. Even though
great were this cruelty, oppression, and tyranny,
though numerous were the oft-victorious clans of the

* See Todd (J. H.). War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill,
t He was son of Ingiald, son of Thora, daughter of Sigurd Snake-i'-
• th'-eye, son of Ragnar Lodbrok by Aslaug, daughter of Sigurd by
Brynhild. The genealogy is, doubtless, quite mythical.

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INTRODUCTION, xui

many-familied Erinn ; though numerous their kings,
and their royal chiefs, and their princes ; though
numerous their heroes and champions, and their
brave soldiers, their chiefs of valour and renown and
deeds of arms ; yet not one of them was able to give
relief, alleviation, or deliverance from that oppression
and tyranny, from the numbers and multitudes, and
the cruelty and the wrath of the brutal, ferocious,
furious, untamed, implacable hordes by whom that
oppression was inflicted, because of the excellence of
their polished, ample, treble, heavy, trusty, glittering
corslets ; and their hard, strong, valiant swords ; and
their well-riveted long spears; and their ready,
brilliant arms of valour besides ; and because of the
greatness of their achievements and of their deeds,
their bravery and their valour, their strength, and
their venom, and their ferocity, and because of the
excess of their thirst and their hunger for the brave,
fruitful, nobly-inhabited, full of cataracts, rivers, bays,
pure, smooth-plained, sweet grassy land of Erinn"
— (pp. 52-53). Some part of this, however, must be
abated, because the chronicler is exalting the terror-
striking enemy that he may still further exalt his own
people, the Dal Cais, who did so much under Brian
Boroimhe to check the inroads of the Northmen.
When a book* does appear, which has been
announced these ten years past, we shall have more

* A Collection of Sagas and other Historical Documents relating to
the Settlements and Descents of the Northmen on the British Isles.
Ed,^ G. W. Dasent, D.C.L., and Gudbrand Vigfusson, M.A. In the
Press. Longmans^ London, 8vo.

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xiv INTRODUCTION.

material for the reconstruction of the life of those
times than is 'now anywhere accessible. Viking
earldoms also were the Orkneys, Faroes, and Shet-
lands. So late as 1171, in the reign of Henry II., the
year after Beckett's murder, Earl Sweyn Asleifsson of
Orkney, who had long been the terror of the western
seas, "fared a sea-roving" and scoured the western
coast of England, Man, and the east of Ireland, but
was killed in an attack on his kinsmen of Dublin.
He had used to go upon a regular plan that may be
taken as typical of the homely manner of most of his
like in their cruising : " Sweyn had in the spring hard
work, and made them lay down very much seed, and
looked much after it himself But when that toil
was ended, he fared away every spring on a viking-
voyage, and harried about among the southern isles and
Ireland, and came home after midsummer. That he
called spring-viking. Then he was at home until the
corn-fields were reaped down, and the grain seen to
and stored. Then he fared away on a viking-voyage,
and then he did not come home till the winter was one
month off, and that he called his autumn-viking."*

Toward the end of the ninth century Harolti
Fairhair, either spurred by the example of Charle-
magne, or really prompted, as Snorri Sturluson tells
us, resolved to bring all Norway under him. As
Snorri has it in Heimskringla: "King Harold sent
his men to a girl hight Gyda. . . . The king wanted
her for his leman ; for she was wondrous beautiful but
of high mood withal. Now when the messengers

* Orkneyinga Saga,

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INTRODUCTION. xv

came there and gave their message to her, she made
answer that she would not throw herself away even
to take a king for her husband, who swayed no
greater kingdom than a few districts ; * and methinks/
said she, * it is a marvel that no king here in Norway
will put all the land under him, after the fashion that
Gorm the Old did in Denmark, or Eric at Upsala.'
The messengers deemed this a dreadfully proud-
spoken answer, and asked her what she thought
would come of such an one, for Harold was so
'mighty a man that his asking was good enough for
her. But although she had replied to their saying
otherwise than they would, they saw no likelihood,
for this while, of bearing her along with them against
her will, so they made ready to fare back again.
When they were ready and the folk followed them
out, Gyda said to the messengers — ' Now tell to
King Harold these my words : — I will only agree to
be his lawful wife upon the condition that he shall
first, for sake of me, put under him the whole of
Norway, so that he may bear sway over that
kingdom as freely and fully as King Eric over the
realm of Sweden, or King Gorm over Denmark ; for
only then, methinks, can he be called king of a
people.* Now his men came back to King Harold,
bringing him the words of the girl, and saying she
was so bold and heedless that she well deserved the
king should send a greater troop of people for her,
and put her to some disgrace. Then answered the
king. * This maid has not spoken or done so much
amiss that she should be punished, but the rather

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xvi lyXRODUCTION.

should she be thanked for her words. She has
reminded me/ said he, * of somewhat that it seems
wonderful I did not think of before. And now/
added he, 'I make the solemn vow, and take God,
who made tne and rules over all things, to witness,
that never shall I clip or comb my hair until I have
subdued all Norway with scatt, and duties, and lord-
ships; or, if not, have died in the seeking.* Guttorm
gave great thanks to the king for his oath, saying it
was royal work fulfilling royal rede." The new and
strange government that Harold tried to enforce — '
nothing less than the feudal system in a rough guise —
which made those who had hitherto been their own
men save at special times, the king's men at all times,
and laid freemen under tax, was withstood as long as
might be by the sturdy Norsemen. It was only by
dint of hard fighting that he slowly won his way,
until at Hafrsfirth he finally crushed all effective
opposition. But the discontented, " and they were a
great multitude," fled oversea to the outlands, Ice-
land, the Faroes, the Orkneys, and Ireland. The
whole coast of Europe, even to Greece and the shores
of the Black Sea, the northern shores of Africa, and
the western part of Asia, felt the effects also. Rolf
Pad-th'-hoof, son of Harold's dear friend Rognvald,
made an outlaw for a cattle-raid within the bounds of
the kingdom, betook himself to France, and, with his
men, founded a new people and a dynasty.

Iceland had been known for a good many years,
but its only dwellers had been Irish Culdees, who
sought that lonely land to pray in peace. Now,

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INTRODUCTION, xvii

however, both from Norway and the Western Isles
settlers began to come in. Aud, widow of Olaf the
White, King of Dublin, came, bringing with her many
of mixed blood, for the Gaedhil (pronounced Gael^
Irish) and the Gaill (pronounced Gaul^ strangers) not
only fought furiously, but made friends firmly, and
often intermarried. Indeed, the Westmen were
among the first arrivals, and took the best parts of
the island— on its western shore, appropriately
enough. After a time the Vikings who had settled
in the Isles so worried Harold and his kingdom, upon
which they swooped every other while, that he drew
together a mighty force, and fell upon them whereso-
ever he could find them, and followed them up with
fire and sword ; and this he did twice, so that in those
lands none could abide but folk who were content to
be his men, however lightly they might hold their
allegiance. Hence it was to Iceland that all turned
who held to the old ways, and for over sixty years
from the first comer there was a stream of hardy men
pouring in, with their families and their belongings,
simple yeomen, great and warwise chieftains, rich
landowners, who had left their land " for the over-
bearing of King Harold," as the Landnamabdk* has
it. " There also we shall escape the troubling of
kings and scoundrels," says the Vatsdoelasaga. So
much of the best blood left Norway that the king
tried to stay the leak by fines and punishments, but
in vain.

* Landtaking-book — landnam^ landtaking, from at nema landf
whence also the enrly settlers were called iandndmsmenn,

b

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xviii INTRODUCTION.

As his ship neared the shore, the new-coming chief
would leave it to the gods as to where he settled.
The hallowed pillars of the high seat, which were
carried away from his old abode, were thrown over-
board, with certain rites, and were let drive with wind
and wave until they came ashore. The piece of land
which lay next the beach they were flung upon was
then viewed from the nearest hill-summit, and the
place of the homestead picked out. Then the land
was hallowed by being encircled with fire, parcelled
among the band, and marked out with boundary-
signs ; the houses were built, the " town " or home-
field walled in, a temple put up, and the settlement
soon assumed shape. In iioo there were 4500
franklins, making a population of about 50,000, fully
three-fourths of whom had a strong infusion of Celtic
blood in them. The mode of life was, and is, rather
pastoral than aught else. In the 39,200 square miles
of the island's area there are now about 250 acres of
cultivated land, and although there has been much
more in times past, the Icelanders have always been
forced to reckon upon flocks and herds as their chief
resources, grain of all kinds, even rye, only growing
in a few favoured places, and very rarely there ; the
hay, self-sown, being the only certain harvest. On the
coast fishing and fowling were of help, but nine-tenths
of the folk lived by their sheep and cattle. Potatoes,
carrots, turnips, and several kinds of cabbage have,
however, been lately grown with success. They
produced their own food and clothing, and could
exporc enough wool, cloth, horn, dried fish, etc., as

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INTROD UCTION. xix

enabled them to obtain wood for building, iron for
tools, honey, wine, grain, etc, to the extent of their
simple needs. Life and work was lotted by the
seasons and their changes ; outdoor work — fishing,
fowling, herding, hay-making, and fuel-getting — filling
the long days of summer, while the long, dark winter
was used in weaving and a hundred indoor crafts.
The climate is not so bad as might be expected,
seeing that the island touches the polar circle, the
mean temperature at Reykjavik being 39 degrees.

The religion which the settlers took with them into
Iceland — the ethnic religion of the Norsefolk, which
fought its last great fight at Sticklestead, where Olaf
Haraldsson lost his life and won the name of Saint —
was, like all religions, a compound of myths, those
which had survived from savage days, and those which
expressed the various degrees of a growing knowledge
of life and better understanding of nature. Some
historians and commentators are still fond of the
unscientific method of taking a later religion, in this
case Christianity, and writing down all apparently
coincident parts of belief, as having been borrowed
from the christian teachings by the Norsefolk, while
all that remain they lump under some slighting head.
Every folk has from the beginning of time sought to
explain the wonders of nature, and has, after its own
fashion, set forth the mysteries of life. The lowest
savage, no less than his more advanced brother, has a
philosophy of the universe by which he solves the
world-problem to his own satisfaction, and seeks to
reconcile his conduct with his conception of the nature

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XX INTRODUCTION.

of things. Now, it is not to be thought, save by a
priori reasoners, that such a folk as the Northmen —
a mighty folk, far advanced in the arts of life, imagin-,
ative, literary — should have had no further creed
than the totemistic myths of their primitive state ; a
state they have wholly left ere they enter history.
Judging from universal analogy, the religion of which
record remains to us was just what might be looked
for at the particular stage of advancement the North-
men had reached. Of course something may have been
gained from contact with other peoples — from the
Greeks during the long years in which the northern
races pressed upon their frontier ; from the Irish during
the existence of the western viking-kingdoms; but what
I particularly warn young students against is the con-
stant effort of a certain order of minds to wrest facts
into agreement with their pet theories of religion or
what not. The whole tendency of the more modern
investigation shows that the period of myth-trans-
mission is long over ere history begins. The same
confusion of different stages of myth-making is to
be found in the Greek religion, and indeed in those of
all peoples; similar conditions of mind produce
similar practices, apart from all borrowing of ideas
and manners ; in Greece we find snake-dances, bear-
dances, swimming with sacred pigs, leaping about
in imitation of wolves, dog-feasts, and offering of dogs'
flesh to the gods — all of them practices dating from
crude savagery, mingled with ideas of exalted and
noble beauty, but none now, save a bigot, would think
of accusing the Greeks of having stolen all their

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INTR OD UCTION. xxi

higher beliefs. Even were some part of the matter
of their myths taken from others, yet the Norsemen
have given their gods a noble, upright, great spirit,
and placed them upon a high level that is all their
own.* From the prose Edda the following all too
brief statement of the salient points of Norse belief is
made up: — "The first and eldest of gods is hight
Allfather ; he lives from all ages, and rules over all
his realm, and sways all things great and small ; he
smithied heaven and earth, and the lift, and all that
belongs to them ; what is most, he made man, and
gave him a soul that shall live and never perish ; and
all men that are right-minded shall live and be with
himself in Ving61f ; but wicked men fare to Hell, and
thence into Niflhell, that is beneath in the ninth
world. Before the earth * 'twas the morning of
time, when yet naught was, nor sand nor sea was
there, nor cooling streams. Earth was not found, nor
Heaven above; a Yawning-gap there was, but grass
nowhere.' Many ages ere the earth was shapen was
Niflheim made, but first was that land in the southern
sphere hight Muspell, that burns and blazes, and may
not be trodden by those who are outlandish and have
no heritage there. Surtr sits on the border to guard
the land ; at the end of the world he will fare forth,
and harry and overcome all the gods and burn the
world with fire. Ere the races were yet mingled, or

* To all interested in the subject of comparative mythology, Andrew
Lang's two admirable books. Custom and Myth (1884, 8vo) and Myth,
Ritual^ and Religion (2 vols., crown 8vo, 1887), both published by
Longmans, London, may be ^armly recommended.

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xxii INTRODUCTION.

the folk of men grew, Yawning-gap, which looked
towards the north parts, was filled with thick and
heavy ice and rime, and everywhere within were fogs
and gusts ; but the south side of Yawning-gap was
lightened by the sparks and gledes that flew out of
Muspell-heim ; as cold arose out of Niflheim and all
things grim, so was that part that looked towards Mus-
pell hot and bright ; but Yawning-gap was as light as
windless air, and when the blast of heat met the rime,
so that it melted and dropped and quickened ; from
those life-drops there was shaped the likeness of a man,
and he was named Ymir ; he was bad, and all his kind;
and so it is said, when he slept he fell into a sweat ;
then waxed under his left hand a man and a woman,
and one of his feet got a son with the other, and thence
Cometh the Hrimthursar. The next thing when the
rime dropped was that the cow hight Audhumla was
made of it ; but four milk-rivers ran out of her teats,
and she fed Ymir ; she licked rime-stones that were
salt, and the first day there came at even, out of the
stones, a man's hair, the second day a man's head,
the third day all the man was there. He is named
Turi ; he was fair of face, great and mighty ; he gat a
son named Bor, who took to him Besla, daughter of
Bolthom, the giant, and they had three sons, Odin,
Vili, and Ve. Bor's sons slew Ymir the giant, but
when he fell there ran so much blood out of his
wounds that all the kin of the Hrimthursar were
drowned, save Hvergelmir and his household, who got
away in a boat Then Bor's sons took Ymir and bore
him into the midst of Yawniqg-gap, and made of

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INTRODUCTION. xxiii

him the earth ; of his blood seas and waters, of his
flesh earth was made ; they set the earth fast, and
laid the sea round about it in a ring without ; of his
bones were made rocks ; stones and pebbles of his
teeth and jaws and the bones that were broken ; they
took his skull and made the lift thereof, and set it up
over the earth with four sides, and under each corner
they set dwarfs, and they took his brain and cast it aloft,
and made clouds. They took the sparks and gledes
that went loose, and had been cast out of Muspellheim,
and set them in the lift to give light ; they gave
resting-places to all fires, and set some in the lift;
some fared free under it, and they gave them a place
and shaped their goings. A wondrous great smithy-
ing, and deftly done. The earth is fashioned round
without, and there beyond, round about it lies the
deep sea ; and on that sea-strand the gods gave land
for an abode to the giant kind, but within on the
earth made they a burg round the world against
restless giants, and for this burg reared they the
brows of Ymir, and called the burg Midgard. The
gods went along the sea-strand and found two stocks,
and shaped out of them men; the first gave soul
and life, the second wit and will to move, the third
face, hearing, speech, and eyesight They gave them
clothing and names; the man Ask and the woman
Embla ; thence was mankind begotten, to whom an
abode was given under Midgard. Then next Bor's
sons made them a burg in the midst of the world,
that is called Asgard ; there abode the gods and their
kind, and wrought thence many tidings and feats,

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xxiv ' INTRODUCTION.

both on earth and in the sky. Odin, who is hight
Allfather, for that he is the father of all men and gods,
sat there in his high seat, seeing over the whole world
and each man's doings, and knew all things that he
saw. • His wife was called Frigg, and their offspring
IS the Asa-stock, who dwell in Asgard and the realms
about it, and all that stock are known to be gods.
The daughter and wife of Odin was Earth, and of her
he got Thor, him followed strength and sturdiness,
thereby quells he all things quick ; the strongest of
all gods and men, he has also three things of great
price, the hammer Miolnir, the best of strength belts,
and when he girds that about him waxes his god
strength one-half, and his iron gloves that he may not
miss for holding his hammer's haft. Balldr is Odin's
second son, and of him it is good to say, he is fair and
bright in face, and hair, and body, and him all praise ;
he is wise and fair-spoken and mild, and that nature is
in him none may withstand his doom. Tyr is daring
and best of mood ; there is a saw that he is tyrstrong
who is before other men and never yields ; he is also
so wise that it is said he is tyrlearned who is wise.
Bragi is famous for wisdom, and best in tongue-wit,
and cunning speech, and song-craft And many
other are there, good and great ; and one, Loki, fair
of face, ill in temper and fickle of mood, is called the
backbiter of the Asa, and speaker of evil redes and
shame of all gods and men ; he has above all that
craft called sleight, and cheats all in all things.
Among the children of Loki are Fenris-wolf and
Midgards-worm ; the second lies about all the

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INTRODUCTION. xxv

world in the deep sea, holding his tail in his
teeth, though some say Thor has slain him ;
but Fenris-wolf is bound until the doom of the
gods, when gods and men shall come to an end,
and earth and heaven be burnt, when he shall slay-
Odin. After this the earth shoots up from the sea,
and it is green and fair, and the fields bear unsown,
and gods and men shall be alive again, and sit in fair
halls, and talk of old tales and the tidings that
happened aforetime. The head-seat, or holiest-stead,
of the gods is at Yggdrasil's ash, which is of all trees
best and biggest ; its boughs are spread over the whole
world and stand above heaven ; one root of the ash is
in heaven, and under the root is the right holy spring ;
there hold the gods doom every day; the second
root is with the Hrimthursar, where before was
Yawning-gap; under that root is Mimir's spring,
where knowledge and wit lie hidden ; thither came
Allfather and begged a drink, but got it not before
he left his eye in pledge ; the third root is over
Niflheim, and the worm Nidhogg gnaws the root
beneath. A fair hall stands under the ash by the
spring, and out of it come three maidens, Norns,
named Has-been, Being, Will-be, who shape the
lives of men ; there are beside other Norns,
who come to every man that is born to shape his
life, and some of these are good and some evil. In
the boughs of the ash sits an eagle, wise in much,
and between his eyes sits the hawk Vedrfalnir ; the
squirrel Ratatoskr runs up and down along the ash,
bearing words of hate betwixt the eagle and the

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XMvi INTROD UCTION.

worm. Those Norns who abide by the holy spring
draw from it every day water, and take the clay that
lies around the well, and sprinkle them up over the
ash for that its boughs should not wither or rot
All those men that have fallen in the fight, and have
borne wounds and toil unto death, from the begin-
ning of the world, are come to Odin in Valhall ; a
very great throng is there, and many more shall yet
come ; the flesh of the boar Soerfmnir is sodden for
them every day, and he is whole again at even ; and
the mead they drink that flows from the teats of the
she-goat Heidhrun. The meat Odin has on his
board he gives to his two wolves, Geri and Freki, and
he needs no meat, wine is to him both meat and
drink ; ravens twain sit on his shoulders, and say
into his ear all tidings that they see and hear ; they
are called Huginn and Muninn (mind and memory) ;
them sends he at dawn to fly over the whole world,
and they come back at breakfast-tide, thereby
becomes he wise in many tidings, and for this men
call him Raven's-god. Every day, when they have
clothed them, the heroes put on their arms and go
out into the yard and fight and fell each other ; that
is their play, and when it looks toward mealtime, then
ride they home to Valhall and sit down to drink.
For murderers and men forsworn is a great hall, and
a bad, and the doors look northward ; it is altogether
wrought of adder-backs like a wattled house, but the
worms' heads turn into the house, and blow venom,
so that rivers of venom run along the hall, and
in those rivers must such men wade forever." There

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INTRODUCTION. xxvii

was no priest-class ; every chief was priest for his
own folk, offered sacrifice, performed ceremonies, and
so on.

In politics the homestead, with its franklin-owner,
was the unit ; the things or hundred-moot, the primal
organisation, and the godord^ or chieftainship, its tie.
The chief who had led a band of kinsmen and fol-
lowers to the new country, taken possession of land,
and shared it among them, became their head-ruler and
priest at home, speaker and president of their Thing,
and their representative in any dealings with neigh-
bouring chiefs and their clients. He was not a feudal
lord, for any franklin could change his godord as he
liked, and the right of " judgment by peers " was in
full use. At first there was no higher organisation
than the local thing. A central thing, and a speaker
to speak a single "law" for the whole island, was
instituted in 929, and afterwards the island was divided
in four quarters, each with a court, under the Al-thing.
Society was divided only into two classes of men, the
free and unfree, though political power was in the
hands of the franklins alone ; godi and thrall ate the
same food, spoke the same tongue, wore much the
same clothes, and were nearly alike in life and habits.
Among the free men there was equality in all but
wealth and the social standing that cannot be
separated therefrom. The thrall was a serf rather
than a slave, and could own a house, etc., of his own.
In a generation or so the freeman or landless retainer,
if he got a homestead of his own, was the peer of the
highest in the land. During the tenth century

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xxviii INTRODUCTION.

Greenland was colonised from Iceland, and by the
end of the same century Christianity was introduced
into Iceland, but made at first little difference in the
arrangements of society. In the thirteenth century,
disputes over the power and jurisdiction of the clergy
led, with other matters, to civil war, ending in sub-
mission to Norway, and the breaking down of all the
native great houses. Although life under the com-
monwealth had been rough and irregular, it had been
free and varied, breeding heroes and men of mark ;
but the " law and order *' now brought in left all on a
dead level of peasant proprietorship, without room for
hope or opening for ambition. An alien governor
ruled the island, which was divided under him into
local counties, administered by sheriffs appointed by
the king of Norway. The Al-thing was replaced by
a royal court, the local work of the local things was
taken by a subordinate of the sheriff, and things,
quarter-courts, trial by jury, and all the rest, were
swept away to make room for these " improvements,"
which have lasted with few changes into this century.
In 1 380 the island passed under the rule of Denmark,
and so continues. During the fifteenth century the
English trade was the only link between Iceland and
the outer world ; the Danish government weakened
that link as much as it could, and sought to shut in
and monopolise everything Icelandic ; under the
deadening effect of such rule it is no marvel that
everything found a lower level, and many things went
out of existence for lack of use. In the sixteenth
century there is little to record but the Reformation,

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INTRODUCTION. xxix

which did little good, if any, and the ravages of
English, Gascon, and Algerine pirates who made
havoc on the coast ;* they appear toward the close of
the century and disappear early in the seventeenth. In
the eighteenth century small-pox, sheep disease,
famine, and the terrible eruptions of 1765 and 1783,
follow one another swiftly and with terrible effect.
At the beginning of the present century Iceland,
however, began to shake off the stupor her ill-hap had
brought upon her, and as European attention had
been drawn to her, she was listened to. Newspapers,
periodicals, and a Useful Knowledge Society were
started ; then came free trade, and the " home-rule "
struggle, which met with partial success in 1874, and
is still being carried on. A colony, Gimli, in far-off
Canada, has been formed of Icelandic emigrants, and
large numbers have left their mother-land ; but there
are many co-operative societies organised now, which"
it is hoped will be able to so revive the old resources
of the island as to make provision for the old popu-
lation and ways of life. There is now again a
representative central council, but very many of the
old rights and powers have not been yet restored. The
condition of society is peculiar — absence of towns,
social equality, no abject poverty or great wealth,
rarity of crime, making it easy for the whole country
to be administered as a co-operative commonwealth
without the great and striking changes rendered
necessary by more complicated systems.

* These pirates are always appearing about the same time in English
State papers as plundering along the coasts of the British Isles,
especially Ireland.

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XXX INTRODUCTION,

Iceland has always borne a high name for learning
and literature ; on both sides of their descent her
people inherited special poetic power. Some of the
older Eddaic fragments attest the great reach and
deep overpowering strength of imagination possessed
by their Norse ancestors ; and they themselves had
been quickened by a new leaven. During the first
generations of the "land-taking" a great school
of poetry which had arisen among the Norsemen
of the Western Isles was brought by them to
Iceland.* The poems then produced are quite
beyond parallel with those of any Teutonic language
for centuries after their date, which lay between
the beginning of the ninth and the end of the tenth
centuries. Through the Greenland colony also came
two, or perhaps more, great poems of this western
school. This school grew out of the stress and storm
of the viking life, with its wild adventure and varied
commerce, and the close contact with an artistic and
inventive folk, possessed of high culture and great learn-
ing. The infusion of Celtic blood, however slight it
may have been, had also something to do with the
swift intense feeling and rapidity of passion of the
earlier Icelandic poets. They are hot-headed and
hot-hearted, warm, impulsive, quick to quarrel or
to love, faithful, brave ; ready with sword or song
to battle with all comers, or to seek adventure
wheresoever it might be found. They leave
Iceland young, and wander at their will to different

♦ For all the old Scandinavian poetry extant in Icelandic, see
Corpus Poeiicum Borealis of Vigfusson and PowelL

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INTRODUCTION. xxxl

courts of northern Europe, where they are always
held in high honour. Gunnlaug Worm-tongue*
in 1004 came to England, after being iri Norway, as
the saga says : — " Now sail Gunnlaug and his fellows
into the English 'main, and come at autumn tide south
to London Bridge, where they hauled ashore their
ship. Now, at that time King Ethelred, the son of
Edgar, ruled over England, and was a good lord ; the
winter he sat in London. But in those days there
was the same tongue in England as in Norway and
Denmark ; but the tongues changed when William the
Bastard won England, for thenceforward French went
current there, for he was of French kin. Gunnlaug
went presently to the king, and greeted him well and
worthily. The king asked him from what land he
came, and Gunnlaug told him all as it was. * But,'
said he, * I have come to meet thee, lord, for that
I have made a song on thee, and I would that it might
please thee to hearken to that song.* The king said
it should be so, and Gunnlaug gave forth the song well
and proudly, and this is the burden thereof —

" * As God are cUl folk fearing
The free lord King of England^
Kin of all kings and all folk ^
To Ethelred the head bow*

The king thanked him for the song, and gave him as
song-reward a scarlet cloak lined with the costliest of
furs, and golden-broidered down to the hem ; and
made him his man ; and Gunnlaug was with him all
the winter, and was well accounted of."

• Snake-tongue — so called from his biting satire.

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xxxii INTRODUCTION.

The poems in this volume are part of the wondrous
fragments which are all that remain of ancient Scan-
dinavian poetry. Every piece which survives has
been garnered by Vigfdsson and Powell in the two
volumes of their Corpus^ where those who seek may
find. A long and illustrious line of poets kept alive
the old traditions, down even to within a couple of
centuries, but the earlier great harvest of song was
never again equalled. After Christianity had entered
Iceland, and that, with other causes, had quieted men's
lives, although the poetry which stood to the folk in
lieu of music did not die away, it lost the exclusive
hold it had upon men's minds. In a time not so
stirring, when emotion was not so fervent or so
swift, when there was less to quicken the blood,
the story that had before found no fit expression
but in verse, could stretch its limbs, as it were,
and be told in prose. Something of Irish in-
fluence is again felt in this new departure and that
marvellous new growth, the saga, that came from it,
but is little more than an influence. Every people find
some one means of expression which more than all
else suits their mood or their powers, and this the
Icelanders found in the saga. This was the life of a
hero told in prose, but in set form, after a regular
fashion that unconsciously complied with all epical
requirements but that of verse — simple plot, events
in order of time, set phrases for even the shifting
emotion or changeful fortune of a fight or storm, and
careful avoidance of digression, comment, or putting
forward by the narrator of ought but the theme he

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INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

has in hand ; he himself is never seen. Something in
the perfection of the saga is to be traced to the long
winter's evenings, when the whole household, gathered
together at their spinning, weaving, and so on, wodld
listen to one of their number who told anew some old
story of adventure or achievement. In very truth the
saga is a prose epic, and marked by every quality
an epic should possess. Growing up while the deeds
of dead heroes were fresh in memory, most often
recited before the sharers in such deeds, the saga, in
its pure form, never goes from what is truth to its
teller. Where the saga, as this one of the Volsungs,
is founded upon the debris of songs and poems, even
then very old, tales of mythological heroes, of men
quite removed from the personal knowledge of the
narrator, yet the story is so inwound with the
tradition of his race, is so much a part of his
thought-life, that every actor in it has for him a real
existence. At the feast or gathering, or by the
fireside, as men made nets and women spun, these
tales were told over ; in their frequent repetition by
men who believed them, though incident or sequence
underwent no change, they would become closer knit,
more coherent, and each an organic whole. Gradu-
ally they would take a regular and accepted form,
which would ease the strain upon the reciter's
memory and leave his mind free to adorn the story
with fair devices, that again gave help in the making
it easier to remember, and thus aided in its preserva-
tion. After a couple of generations had rounded and
polished the sagas by their telling and retelling, they

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xxxiv INTRODUCTION.

were written down for the most part between 1140
and 1220, and so much was their form impressed
upon the mind of the folk, that when learned and
literary works appeared, they were written in the
same style ; hence we have histories alike of
kingdoms, or families, or miracles, lives of saints,
kings, or bishops in saga-form, as well as subjects
that seem at first sight even less hopeful. All the
sagas that have yet appeared in English may be
found in the book-list at end of this volume, but they
are not a tithe of those that remain.

Of all the stories kept in being by the saga-tellers,
and left for our delight, there is none that so epito-
mises human experience ; has within the same space
so much of nature and of life ; so fully expresses
the temper and genius of the Northern folk, as that
of the Volsungs and Niblungs, which has in varied
shapes entered into the literature of many lands. In
the beginning there is no doubt that the story belonged
to the common ancestral folk of all the Teutonic or
Scando-Gothic peoples in the earliest days of their
wanderings. Whether they came from the Hindii
Kiish, or originated in Northern Europe, brought it
with them from Asia, or evolved it among the
mountains and rivers it has taken for scenery, none
know nor can ; but each branch of their descendants
has it in one form or another, and as the Icelanders
were the very crown and flower of the northern folk,
so also the story which is the peculiar heritage of that
folk received in their hands its highest expression and
most noble .form. The oldest shape in which we

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INTRODUCTION. xxxv

have it is in the Eddaic poems, some of which date
from unnumbered generations before the time to
which most of them are usually ascribed, the time
of the viking-kingdoms in the Western Isles. In these
poems the only historical name is that of Attila, the
great Hun leader, who filled so large a part of the
imagination of the people whose power he had broken.
There is no doubt that, in the days when the king-
doms of the Scando-Goths reached from the North
Cape to the Caspian, that some earlier great king
performed his part ; but, after the striking career of
Attila, he became the recognised type of a power-
ful foreign potentate. All the other actors are
mythic-heroic. Of the Eddaic songs only fragments
now remain, but ere they perished there arose from
them a saga, that now given to the readers of this.
The so-called Anglo-Saxons brought part of the
story to England in Beowulf; in which also appear
some incidents that are again given in the Icelandic
saga of Grettir the Strong. Most widely known is the
form taken by the story in the hands of an unknown
medieval German poet, who, from the broken ballads
then surviving, wrote the Nibelungenlied^ or more
properly Nibelungen N6t (The Need of the Niblungs).
In this the characters are all renamed, some being
more or less historical actors in mid-European
history, as Theodoric of the East-Goths, for instance.
The whole of the earlier part of the story has dis-
appeared, and though Siegfried (Sigurd) has slain a
dragon, there is nothing to connect it with the fate
that follows the treasure ; Andvari, the Volsungs,

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xxxvi INTRODUCTION,

Fafnir, and Regin are all forgotten ; the mythological
features have become faint, and the general air of
the whole is that of medieval romance. The sword
Gram is replaced by Balmung, and the Helm of
Awing by the Tarn-cap — the former with no gain, the
latter with great loss. The curse of Andvari, which
in the saga is grimly real, working itself out with
slow, sure steps that no power of god or man can turn
aside, in the medieval poem is but a mere scenic
effect, a strain of mystery and magic, that runs
through the changes of the story with much added
picturesqueness, but that has no obvious relation to
the working-out of the plot, or fulfilment of their
destiny by the different characters. Brynhild loses
a great deal, and is a poor creature when compared
with herself in the saga ; Grimhild and her fateful
drink have gone ; Gudrun (Chriemhild) is much more
complex, but not more tragic ; one new character,
Riidiger, appears as the type of chivalry ; but Sigurd
(Siegfred) the central figure, though he has lost by
the omission, of so much of his life, is, as before, the
embodiment of all the virtues that were dear to
northern hearts. Brave, strong, generous, dignified,
and utterly truthful, he moves amid a tangle of
tragic events, overmastered by a mighty fate, and in
life or death is still a hero without stain or flaw. It
is no wonder that he survives to this day in the
national songs of the Faroe Islands and in the
folk-ballads of Denmark ; that his legend should have
been mingled with northern history through Ragnar
Lodbrog, or southern through Attila and Theodoric ;

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INTRODUCTION, xxxvii

or that it should have inspired William Morris in
producing the one. great English epic of the century ;
and Richard Wagner in the mightiest among his
music-dramas. Of the story as told in the saga
there is no need here to speak, for to read it, as may
be done a few pages further on, is that not better
than to read about it ? But it may be urged upon
those that are pleased and moved by the passion
and power, the strength and deep truth of it, to
find out more than they now know of the folk
among whom it grew, and the land in which they
dwelt. In so doing they will come to see how
needful are a few lessons from the healthy life and
speech of those days, to be applied in the bettering
of our own,

H. HALLIDAY SPARLING.

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TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.

In offering to the reader this translation of the
most complete and dramatic form of the great Epic
5f the North, we lay no claim to special critical
indght, nor do we care to deal at all with vexed
questions, but are content to abide by existing
authorities, doing our utmost to make our rendering
close and accurate, and, if it might be so, at the
same time, not over prosaic : it is to the lover of
poetry and nature, rather than to the student, that
we appeal to enjoy and wonder at this great work,
now for the first time, strange to say^ translated into
English : this must be our excuse for speaking here,
as briefly as may be, of things that will seem to the
student over well known to be worth mentioning,
but which may give some ease to the general reader
who comes across our book.

The prose of the Volsunga Saga was composed

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xl PREFACE.

probably some time in the twelfth century/ from
floating traditions no doubt ; from songs which, now
lost, were then known, at least in fragments, to the
Sagaman ; and finally from songs, which, written
down about his time, are still existing : the greater
part of these last the reader will find in this book ;
some inserted amongst the prose text by the original
story-teller, and some by the present translators,
and the remainder in the latter part of the book,
put togethei as nearly as may be in the order of
the story, and forming a metrical version of the
greater portion of it.

These Songs from the Elder Edda we will now
briefly compare with the prose of the Volsung Story,
premising that these are the only metrical sources
existing of those from which the Sagaman told his
tale

Except for the short snatch on p. 24 of our
translation, nothing is now left of these till we come
to the episode of Helgi Hundings-bane, Sigurd s
half-brother ; there are two songs leftf relating to this,
from which the prose is put together ; to a certain
extent they cover the same ground ; but the latter
half of the second is, wisely as we think, left
untouched by the Sagaman, as its interest is of itself

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PREFACE. xU

too great not to encumber the progress of the main
story ; for the sake of its wonderful beauty, however,
we could not refrain from rendering it, and it will
be found first among the metrical translations that
form the second part of this book.

Of the next part of the Saga, the deaths of
Sinfjotli and Sigmund, and the journey of Queen'
Hjordis to the court of King Alf, there is no trace
left of any metrical origin ; but we meet the Edda
once more where Regin tells the tale of his kin to
Sigurd, and where Sigurd defeats and slays the sons
of Hunding : this lay is known as the Lay of Regin.

The short chap. xvi. is abbreviated from a long
poem called the Prophecy of Gripir (the Grifir of the
Saga), where the whole story to come is told with
some detail, and which certainly, if drawn out at
length into the prose, would have forestalled the
interest of the tale.

In the slaying of the Dragon the Saga adheres
very closely to the Lay of Fafnir ; for the insertion
of the song of the birds to Sigurd the present
translators are responsible.

Then comes the waking of Brynhild, ajnd her wise
redes to Sigurd, taken from the Lay of Sigrdrifa, the
greater part of which, in its metrical form, is inserted

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xlii PREFACE,

by the Sagaman into his prose ; but the stanzas
relating Brynhild's awaking we have inserted into
the text ; the latter part, omitted in the prose, we
have translated for the second part of our book.

Of Sigurd at Hlymdale, of Gudrun's dream, the
magic potion of Grimhild, the wedding of Sigurd
consequent on that potion ; of the wooing of Bryn-
hild for Gunnar, her marriage to him, of the quarrel
of the Queens, the brooding grief and wrath of
Brynhild, and the interview of Sigurd with her — of
all this, the most dramatic and best-considered part
of the tale, there is now no more left that retains
its metrical form than the few snatches preserved
by the Sagaman, though many of the incidents are
alluded to in other poems.

Chap. XXX. is met by the poem called the Short
Lay of Sigurd, which, fragmentary apparently at
the beginning, gives us something of Brynhild's
awakening wrath and jealousy, the slaying of Sigurd,-
and the death of Brynhild herself; this poem we
have translated entire.

The Fragments of the Lay of Brynhild are what
is left of a poem partly covering the same ground
as this last, but giving a different account of Sigurd's
slaying ; it is very incomplete, though the Sagaman

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PREFACE, xliii

has drawn some incidents from it ; the reader will
find it translated in our second part.

But before the death of the heroine we have in-
serted entire into the text as chap. xxxi. the First
Lay of Gudrun, the aiost lyrical, the most complete,
and the most beautiful of all the Eddaic poems ;
a poem that any age or language might count among
its most precious possessions.

From this point to the end of the Saga it keeps
closely to the Songs of Edda; in chap, xxxii. the
Sagaman has rendered into prose the Ancient Lay
of Gudrun, except for the beginning, which gives
again another account of the death of Sigurd : this
lay also we have translated.

The grand poem, called the Hell-ride of Brynhild,
is not represented directly by anything in the prose
except that the Sagaman has supplied from it a link
or two wanting in the Lay of Sigrdrifm ; it will be
found translated in our second part

The betrayal and slaughter of the Giukings or
Niblungs, and the fearful end of Atli and his sons,
and court, are recounted in two lays, called the Lays
of Atli ; the longest of these, the Greenland Lay
of Atli, is followed closely by the Sagaman ; the
shorter one we have translated.

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xHv PREFACE.

The end of Gudrun, of her daughter by Sigurd,
and of her sons by her last husband Jonakr, treated
of in the last four chapters of the Saga, are very
grandly and poetically given in the songs called the
Whetting of Gudrun, and the Lay of Hamdir, which
are also among our translations.

These are all the songs of the Edda which the
Sagaman has dealt with ; but one other, the Lament
of Oddrun, we have translated on account of its
intrinsic merit.

As to the literary quality of this work we might
say much, but we think we may well trust the
reader of poetic insight to break through whatever
entanglement of strange manners or unused element
may at first trouble him, and to meet the nature and
beauty with which it is filled : we cannot doubt that
such a reader will be intensely touched by finding,
amidst all its wildness and remoteness, such a
startling realism, such subtilty, such close sympathy
with all the passions that may move himself to-day.

In conclusion, we must again say how strange
it seems to us, that this Volsung Tale, which is in
fact an unversified poem, should never before have
been translated into English. For this is the Great
Story of the North, which should be to all our race

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PREFACE. xlv

what the Tale of Troy was to the Greeks — to all our
race firsthand afterwards, when the change of the
world has made our race nothing more than a name
of what has been — a story too — then should it be to
those that come after us no less than the Tale of
Troy has been to us.

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THE STORY OF
THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS.

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THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO ARE MOST
NOTEWORTHY IN THIS STORY.

VOLSUNGS.

Sigi, son of Odin.

Rerir^ son of Sigi, king of Hunland.

Volsungy son of Rerir.

^gmund,son jofVolsung.

Stgny, daughter J

Sinfjotli^ son of Sigmund and Signy.

Helgi^ son of Sigmund by Borgny.

SIGURD FAFNIR'S-BANE, posthumous son of Sigmund

by Hjordis.
Swanhild^ his daughter, by Gudrun, Giuki's daughter.

People who deal with the Volsungs before
Sigurd meets Brynhild.
Siggeir^ king of Gothland, husband of Signy.
Borgny^ first wife of Sigmund.
Hjordis^ his second wife.
King Eylimiy her father.
Hjalprek^ king of Denmark.
Alf^ his son, second husband of Hjordis.
Regin^ the king's smith.
Fafnir^ his brother, turned into a dragon.
Otter^ his brother, slain by Loki.
Hreidmar^ the father of these brothers.
Andvari^ a dwarf, first owner of the hoard of the Niblungs,

on which he laid a curse when it was taken from

him by Loki.

d

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1 NAMES, ETC.

GlUKINGS OR NiBLUNGS.

King Giuki,

Grimhild^ his wife.

Gunnary '

ITogniy - sons of Giukl

Gutionn^ ^

GxjDRUN, daughter of Giuki, wife of Sigurd Fafnir's-bane.

BUDLUNGS.

King Budli,

Atliy his son, second husband of Gudrun.

Brynhild, daughter of Budli, first betrothed and love of

Sigurd Fafnir's-bane, wife of Gunnar, son of

Giuki.
Bekkhild^ daughter of Budli, wife of Heimir of Hlymdale.

Others who deal with Sigurd and the Giukings.

Heimer of Hlymdale^ foster-father of Brynhild.

Glaumvory second wife of Gunnar.

Kosibera^ wife of Hogni.

Vingiy an evil counsellor of King Atll

Niblung, the son of Hogni, who helps Gudrun in the

slaying of Atli.
Jormunreky king of the Goths, husband of Swanhild.
RandvcTy his son.
Bikkiy his evil counsellor.
/onakry Gudrun*s third husband.
Sorliy HamdiTy and Erpy the sons of Jonakr and Gudrun.

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A PROLOGUE IN VERSE.

O HEARKEN, ye who speak the English Tongue,
How in a waste land ages long ago,

The very heart of the North bloomed into song
After long brooding o'er this tale of woe 1
Hearken, and marvel how it might be so,

That such a sweetness so well crowned could be

Betwixt the ice-hills and the cold grey sea.

Or rather marvel not, that those should cling
Unto the thoughts of great lives passed away,

Whom God has stripped so bare of everything.
Save the one longing to wear through their day,
In fearless wise ; the hope the Gods to stay.

When at that last tide gathered wrong and hate

Shall meet blind yearning on the Fields of Fate.

Yea, in the first grey dawning of our race.

This ruth-crowned tangle to sad hearts was dear.

Then rose a seeming sun, the lift gave place
Unto a seeming heaven, far off, but clear ;
But that passed too, and afternoon is here ;

Nor was the morn so fruitful or so long

But we may hearken when ghosts moan of wrong.

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m A PROLOGUE IN VERSE.

For as amid the clatter of the town
When eve comes on with unabated noise,

The soaring wind will sometimes drop adown
And bear unto our chamber the sweet voice
Of bells that 'mid the swallows do rejoice,

Half-heard, to make us sad, so we awhile

With echoed grief life's dull pain may beguile.

, Naught vague, naught base our tale, that seems to
say,—
*Be wide-eyed, kind; curse not the hand that smites;
Curse not the kindness of a past good day,
Or hope of love ; cast by all earth's delights,
For very love : through weary days and nights.
Abide thou, striving howsoe'er in vain,
The inmost love of one more heart to gain ! '

So draw ye round and hearken, Enghsh Folk,
Unto the best tale pity ever wrought !

Of how from dark to dark bright Sigurd broke.
Of Brynhild's glorious soul with love distraught,
Of Gudrun's weary wandering unto naught,

Of utter love defeated utterly.

Of grief too strong to give Love time to die !

William Morri&

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THE STORY OF
THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS.

CHAP. I.
OfSigi, the Son of Odin,

TTERE begins the tale, and tells of a man who was
■*■ -■• named Sigi, and called of men the son of Odin ;
another man withal is told of in the tale, hight Skadi, a
great man and mighty of his hands; yet was Sigi the
mightier and the higher of kin, according to the speech
of men of that time. Now Skadi had a thrall with whom
the story must deal somewhat, Bredi by name, who was
called after that work which he had to do ; in prowess and
might of hand he was equal to men who were held more
worthy, yea, and better than some thereof.

Now it is to be told that, on a time, Sigi fared to the
hunting of the deer, and the thrall with him \ and they
hunted deer day-long till the evening; and when they
gathered together their prey in the evening, lo, greater
and more by far was that which Bredi had slain than
Sigi's prey ; and this thing he much mislik^d, and he said
that great wonder it was that a very thrall should out-do

GO I

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2 THE STOR V OF THE

him in the hunting of deer : so he fell on him and slew
him, and buried the body of him thereafter in a snow-drift

Then he went home at evening tide and says that Bredi
had ridden away from him into the wild-wood. "Soon
was he out of my sight," he says, "and naught more I wot
of him."

Skadi misdoubted the tale of Sigi, and deemed that this
was a guile of his, and that he would have slain BredL
So he sent men to seek for him, and to such an end came
their seeking, that they found him in a certain snow-drift ;
then said Skadi, that men should call that snow-drift
Bredi's Drift from henceforth; and thereafter have folk
followed, so that in such wise they call every drift that is
right great

Thus it is well seen that Sigi has slain the thrall and
murdered him ; so he is given forth to be a wolf in holy
places,* and may no more abide in the land with his
father ; therewith Odin bare him fellowship from the land,
so long a way, that right long it was, and made no stay till
he brought him to certain war-ships. So Sigi falls to lying
out a-warring with the strength that his father gave him or
ever they parted; and happy was he in his warring, and
ever prevailed, till he brought it about that he won by his
wars land and lordship at the last; and thereupon he
took to him a noble wife, and became a great and mighty
king, and ruled over the land of the Huns, and was the
greatest of warriors. He had a son by his wife, who was
called Rerir, who grew up in his father's house, and soon
became great of growth, and shapely.

* " Wolf in holy places," a man put out of the pale of society for his
crim«s, an outlaw.

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VOLSt/NGS AND NIBLVNG5.

CHAP. 11.

Of the Birth of Volsung, the Son of Rerir^ who was the
Son of Sigi.

TVr OW Sigi grew old, and had many to envy him, so that
-"•^ at last those turned against him whom he trusted
most ; yea, even the brothers of his wife ; for these fell
on him at his unwariest, when there were few with him to
withstand them, and brought so many against him, that
they prevailed against him, and there fell Sigi and all his
folk with him. But Rerir, his son, was not in this trouble,
and he brought together so mighty a strength of his friends
and the great men of the land, that he got to himself both
the lands and kingdom of Sigi his father ; and so now,
when he deems that the feet under him stand firm in his
rule, then he calls to mind that which he had against his
mother's brothers, who had slain his father. So the king
gathers together a mighty army, and therewith falls on his
kinsmen, deeming that if he made their kinship of small
account, yet none the less they had first wrought evil against
him. So he wrought his will herein, in that he departed not
from strife before he had slain all his father's banesmen,
though dreadful the deed seemed in every wise. So now he
gets land, lordship, and fee, and is become a mightier man
than his father before him.

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4 THE STORY OF THE

Much wealth won in war gat Rerir to himself, and
wedded a wife withal, such as he deemed meet for him,
and long they lived together, but had no child to take the
heritage after them; and ill-content they both were with
that, and prayed the Gods with heart and soul that they
might get them a child. And so it is said that Odin hears
their prayer, and Freyia no less hearkens wherewith they
prayed unto her : so she, never lacking for all good counsel,
calls to her her casket-bearing may,* the daughter of
Hrimnir the giant, and sets an apple in her hand, and bids
her bring it to the king. She took the apple, and did on
her the gear of a crow, and went flying till she came
whereas the king sat on a mound, and there she let the
apple fall into the lap of the king ; but he took the apple,
and deemed he knew whereto it would avail ; so he goes
home from the mound to his own folk, and came to the
queen, and some deal of that apple she ate.

So, as the tale tells, the queen soon knew that she was
big with child, but a long time wore or ever she might give
birth to the child : so it befell that the king must needs go
to the wars, after the custom of kings, that he may keep his
own land in peace: and in this journey it came to pass
that Rerir fell sick and got his death, being minded to go
home to Odin, a thing much desired of many folk in those
days.

Now no otherwise it goes with the queen's sickness than
heretofore, nor may she be the lighj^r of* her child, and
six winters wore away with the sickness still heavy on her ;
so that at the last she feels that she may not live long;
wherefore now she bade cut the child from out of her ; and
it was done even as she bade; a man-child was it, and
great of growth from his birth, as might well be ; and they
* May (A. S. fnag\ a maid*

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS, 5

say that the youngling kissed his mother or ever she died ;
but to him is a name given, and he is called Volsung ; and
he was king over Hunland in the room of his father.
From his early years he was big and strong, and full of
daring in all manly deeds and trials, and he became the
greatest of warriors, and of good hap in all the battles of
his warfaring.

Now when he was fully come to man's estate, Hrimnir
the giant sends to hinr Ljod his daughter ; she of whom the
tale told, that she brought the apple to Rerir, Volsung's
father. So Volsung weds her withal ; and long they abode
together with good hap and great love. They had ten sons
and one daughter, and their eldest son was hight Sigmund,
and their daughter Signy ; and these two were twins, and in
all wise the foremost and the fairest of the children of
Volsung the king, and mighty, as all his seed was ; even as
has been long told from ancient days, and in tales of long
ago, with the greatest fame of all men, how that the Vol-
sungs have been great men and high-minded and far above
the ihost of men both in cunning and in prowess and
all things high and mighty.

So says the story that king Volsung let build a noble
hall in such a wise, that a big oak-tree stood therein, and
that the limbs of the tree blossomed fair out over the roof
of the hall, while below stood the trunk within i^ and the
said trunk did men call Branstock.

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THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. III.

Of the Sword that Sigmund^ Volsung^s soriy drew from the
Branstock,

THERE was a king called Siggeir, who ruled over
Gothland, a mighty king and of many folk ; he went
to meet Volsung, the king, and prayed him for Signy his
daughter to wife ; and the king took his talk well, and his
sons withal, but she was loth thereto, yet she bade her
father rule in this as in all Qther things that concerned her;
so the king took such rede* that he gave her to him, and
she was betrothed to King Siggeir; and for the fulfilling
of the feast and the wedding, was King Siggeir to come
to the house of King Volsung. The king got ready the
feast according to his best might, and when all things were
ready, came the king's guests and King Siggeir withal at
the day appointed, and many a man of great account had
Siggeir with him.

The tale tells that great fires were made endlong the
hall, and the great tree aforesaid stood midmost thereof;
withal folk say that, whenas men sat by the fires in the
evening, a certain man came into the hall unknown of
aspect to all men ; and suchlike array he had, that over him
was a spotted cloak, and he was bare-foot, and had linen-
* Rede (A.S. rttd)^ counsel, advice, a tale or prophecy.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 1

breeches knit tight even unto the bone, and he had a sword
in his hand as he went up to the Branstock, and a slouched
hat upon his head : huge he was, and seeming-ancient, and
one-eyed.* So he drew his sword and smote it into the
tree-trunk so that it sank in up to the hilts ; and all held
back from greeting the man. Then he took up the word,
and said —

'* Whoso draweth this sword from this stock, shall have
the same as a gift from me, and shall find in good sooth
that never bare he better sword in hand than is this."

Therewith out went the old man from the hall, and none
knew who he was or whither he went.

Now men stand up, and none would fain be the last to
lay hand to the sword, for they deemed that he would have
the best of it who might first touch it ; so all the noblest
went thereto first, and then the others, one after other ; but
none who came thereto might avail to pull it out, for in
nowise would it come away howsoever they tugged at it ;
but now up comes Sigmund, King Volsung's son, and sets
hand to the sword, and pulls it from the stock, even as if it
lay loose before him; so good that weapon seemed to all,
that none thought he had seen such a sword before, and
Siggeir would fain buy it of him at thrice its weight of gold,
but Sigmund said —

**Thou mightest have taken the sword no less than I
from there whereas it stood, if it had been thy lot to bear
it ; but now, since it has first of all fallen into my hand,
never shalt thou have it, though thou biddest therefor all
the gold thou hast."

King Siggeir grew wroth at these words, and deemed

* The man is Odin, who is always so represented, because he gave
his eye as a pledge for a draught froin the fountain of Mimir, the
^urce of all wisdom^

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8 THE STORY OF THE

Sigmund had answered him scornfully, but whereas he was
a wary man and a double-dealing, he made as if he heeded
this matter in nowise, yet that same evening he thought
how he might reward it, as was well seen afterwards.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS.

CHAP. IV.

How King Siggeir wedded Signy^ and bade King Volsung
and his son to Gothland,

"M" OW it is to be told that Siggeir goes to bed by Signy
^^ that night, and the next morning the weather was
fair ; then says King Siggeir that he will not bide, lest the
wind should wax, or the sea grow impassable ; nor is it said
that Volsung or his sons letted him herein, and that the
less, because they saw that he was fain to get him gone
from the feast But now says Signy to her father —

" I have no will to go away with Siggeir, neither does my
heart smile upon him ; and I wot, by my fore-knowledge,
and from the fetch^ of our kin, that from this counsel will
great evil fall on us if this wedding be not speedily
undone."

"Speak in no such wise, daughter!" said he; "for
great shame will it be to him, yea, and to us also, to break
troth with him, he being sackless ;+ and in naught may we
trust him, and no friendship shall we have of him, if these
matters are broken oflf ; but he will pay us back in as evil
wise as he may ; for that alone is seemly, to hold truly to
troth given."

* Fetch ; wraith, or familiar spirit

t Sackless (A.S. sacu, Icel. sok,) blameless.

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lo THE STORY OF THE

So King Siggeir got ready for home, and before he went
from the feast he bade King Volsung, his father-in-law,
come see him in Gothland, and all his sons with him,
whenas three months should be overpast, and to bring such
following with him, as he would have, and as he deemed
meet for his honour ; and thereby will Siggeir the king pay
back for the shortcomings of the wedding-feast, in that he
would abide thereat but one night only, a thing not
according to the wont of men. So King Yolsung gave his
word to come on the day named, and the kinsmen-in-law
parted, and Siggeir went home with his wife.

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rOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. ii

CHAP. V.

Of the Slaying of King Voisung,

"M" OW tells the tale of King Volsung and his sons that
^ ^ they go at the time appointed to Gothland at the
bidding of King Siggeir, and put off from the land in three
ships, all well manned, and have a fair voyage, and made
Gothland late of an evening tide.

But that same night came Signy and called her father
and brothers to a privy talk, and told them what she
deemed King Siggeir was minded to do, and how that he
had drawn together an army no man may meet " And,"
says she, " he is minded to do guilefully by you ; wherefore
I bid you get ye gone back again to your own land, and
gather together the mightiest power ye may, and then come
back hither and avenge you; neither go ye now to your
undoing, for ye shall surely fail not to fall by his wiles if ye
turn not on him even as I bid you."

Then spake Volsung the king, "All people and nations
shall tell of the word I spake, yet being unborn, wherein I
vowed a vow that I would flee in fear from neither fire nor
the sword ; even so have I done hitherto, and shall I depart
therefrom now I am old? Yea withal never shall the
maidens mock these my sons at the games, and cry out at
them that they fear death ; once alone must all men need

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12 THE STORY OF THE

die, and from that season shall none escape ; so my rede it
is that we flee nowhither, but do the work of our hands .in
as manly wise as we may ; a hundred fights have I foughti
and whiles I had more, and whiles I had less, and yet ever
had I the victory, nor shall it ever be heard tell of me that
I fled away or prayed for peace."

Then Signy wept right sore, and prayed that she might
not go back to King Siggeir, but King Volsung answered —

" Thou shalt surely go back to thine husband, and abide
with him, howsoever it fares with us."

So Signy went home, and they abode there that night ;
but in the morning, as soon as it was day, Volsung bade
his men arise and go aland and make them ready for
battle; so they went aland, all of them all-armed, and had
not long to wait before Siggeir fell on them with all his
army, and the fiercest fight there was betwixt them ; and
Siggeir cried on his men to the onset all he might ; and so
the tale tells that King Volsung and his sons went eight
times right through Siggeir's folk that day, smiting and
hewing on either hand, but when they would do so even
once again, King Volsung fell amidst his folk and all his
men withal, saving his ten sons, for mightier was the power
against them than they might withstand

But now are all his sons taken, and laid in bonds and led
away ; and Signy was ware withal that her father was slain,
and her brothers taken and doomed to death; that she
called King Siggeir apart to talk with her, and said —

"This will I pray of thee, that thou let not slay my
brothers hastily, but let them be set awhile in the stocks,
for home to me comes the saw that says. Sweet to eye while
seen: but longer life I pray not for them, because I wot
well that my prayer will not avail me."

Then answered Siggeir —

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VOLSVNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 13

** Surely thou art mad and witless, praying thus for more
bale for thy brothers than their present slaying ; yet this
will I grant thee, for the better it likes me the more they
must bear, and the longer their pain is or ever death come
to them."

Now he let it be done even as she prayed, and a mighty
beam was brought and set on the feet of those ten brethren
in a certain place of the wild-wood, and there they sit day-
long until night; but at midnight, as they sat in the stocks,
there came on them a she-wolf from out the wood ; old she
was, and both great and evil of aspect ; and the fir^ thing
she did was to bite one of those brethren till he died, and
then she ate him up withal, and went on her way.

But the next morning Signy sent a man to the brethren,
even one whom' she most trusted, to wot of the tidings \
and when he came back he told her that one of them was
dead, and great and grievous she deemed it, if they should
all fare in like wise, and yet naught might she avail them.

Soon is the tale told thereof: nine nights together came
the she-wolf at midnight, and each night slew and ate up
one of the brethren, until all were dead, save Sigmund only ;
so now, before the tenth night came, Signy sent that trusty
man to Sigmund, her brother, and gave honey into his hand,
bidding him do it over Sigmund's face, and set a little deal
of it in his mouth ; so he went to Sigmund and did as he
was bidden, and then came home again ; and so the next
night came the she-wolf according to her wont, and would
slay him and eat him even as his brothers ; but now she
sniffs the breeze from him, whereas he was anointed with
the honey, and licks his face all over with her tongue, and
then thrusts her tongue into the mouth of him. No fear he
had thereof, but caught the she-wolfs tongue betwixt his
teeth, and so hard she started back thereat, and pulled

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14 THE STOR y OP Tit£

herself away so mightily, setting her feet against the stocks,
that all was riven asunder ; but he ever held so fast that
the tongue came away by the roots, and thereof she had
her bane.

But some men say that this same she-wolf was the mother
of King Siggeir, who had turned herself into this likeness
by troll's lore and witchcraft.*

* See note« p. 20.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 15

CHAP. VI.

Of how Signy sent the Children of her and Siggeir to
Sigmund,

IMOW whenas Sigmund is loosed and the stocks are
^ ^ broken, he dwells in the woods and holds himself
there; but Signy sends yet again to wot of the tidings,
whether Sigmund were alive or no ; but when those who
were sent came to him, he told them all as it had betid,
and how things had gone betwixt him and the wolf; so
they went home and tell Signy the tidings ; but she goes
and finds her brother, and they take counsel in such wise
as to make a house underground in the wild-wood ; and so
things go on a while, Signy hiding him there, and sending
him such things as he needed ; but King Siggeir deemed
that all the Volsungs were dead.

Now Siggeir had two sons by his wife, whereof it is told
that when the eldest was ten winters old, Signy sends him
to Sigmund, so that he might give him help, if he would in
any wise strive to avenge his father ; so the youngling goes
to the wood, and comes late in evening-tide to Sigmund's
earth-house; and Sigmund welcomed him in seemly
fashion, and said that he should make ready their bread ;
" but I," said he, ** will go seek firewood."

Therewith he gives the meal-bag into his hands while he

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himself went to fetch firing; but when he came back the
youngling had done naught at the bread-making. Then
asks Sigmund if the bread be ready —

Says the youngling, ** I durst not set hand to the meal
sack, because somewhat quick lay in the meal."

Now Sigmund deemed he wotted that the lad was of no
such heart as that he would be fain to have him for his
fellow ; and when he met his sister, Sigmund said that he
had come no nigher to the aid of a man though the
youngling were with him.

Then said Signy, "Take him and kill him then; for
why should such an one live longer?" and even so he did.

So this winter wears, and the next winter Signy sent her
next son to Sigmund ; and there is no need to make a long
tale thereof, for in like wise went all things, and he slew the
child by the counsel of Signy.

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CHAP. VII.

Of the Birth of Sinfjotli the Son of Sigmund,

00 on a tide it befell as Signy sat in her bower, that there
^ came to her a witch-wife exceeding cunning, and
Signy talked with her in such wise, " Fain am I," says she,
" that we should change semblances together."

She says, " Even as thou wilt then."

And so by her wiles she brought it about that they
changed semblances, and now the witch-wife sits in Signy's
place according to her rede, and goes to bed by the king
that night, and he knows not that he has other than Signy
beside him.

But the tale tells of Signy, that she fared to the earth-
house of her brother, and prayed him give her harbouring
for the night; "For I have gone astray abroad in the
woods, and know not whither I am going.*'

So he* said she might abide, and that he would not
refuse harbour to one lone woman, deeming that she
would scarce pay back his good cheer by tale-bearing:
so she came into the house, and they sat down to meat,
and his eyes were often on her, and a goodly and fair
woman she seemed to him ; but when they are full, then
he says to her, that he is right fain that they should
have but one bed that night; she nowise turned away

002

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therefrom, and so for three nights together he laid her in
bed by him.

Thereafter she fared home, and found the witch-wife,
and bade her change semblances again, and she did so.

Now as time wears, Signy brings forth a man-child, who
was named Sinfjotli, and when he grew up he was both big
and strong, and fair of face, and much like unto the kin of
the Volsungs, and he was hardly yet ten winters old when
she sent him to Sigmund's earth-house ; but this trial she
had made of her other sons or ever she had sent them to
Sigmund, that she had sewed gloves on to their hands
through flesh and skin, and they had borne it ill and cried
out thereat; and this she now did to Sinfjotli, and he
changed countenance in nowise thereat. Then she flayed
off the kirtle so that the skin came off with the sleeves, and
said that this would be torment enough for him; but he
said —

"Full little would Volsung have felt such a smart as
this."

So the lad came to Sigmund, and Sigmund bade him
knead their meal up, while he goes to fetch firing ; so he
gave him the meal-sack, and then went after the wood, and
by then he came back had Sinfjotli made an end of his
baking. Then asked Sigmund if he had found nothing in
the meal.

"I misdoubted me that there was something quick in the
meal when I first fell to kneading, of it, but I have kneaded
it all up together, both the meal and that which was therein,
whatsoever it was."

Then Sigmund laughed out, he said —

"Naught wilt thou eat of this bread to-night, for the
most deadly of worms* hast thou kneaded up therewith."
* Serpents.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 19

Now Sigmund was so mighty a man that he might eat
venom and have no hurt therefrom; but Sinfjotli might
abide whatso venom came on the outside of him, but might
neither eat nor drink thereof. '

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20 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. VIIL

TJu Death of King Siggeir and of Signy.

n^HE tale tells that Sigmund thought Sinfjotli over young
•^ to help him to his revenge, and will first of all harden
him with manly deeds ; so in summer-tide they fare wide
through the woods and slay men for their wealth ; Sigmund
deems him to take much after the kin of the Volsungs,
though he thinks that he is Siggeir*s son, and deems him to
have the evil heart of his father, with the might and daring
of the Volsungs ; withal he must needs think him in no-
wise a kin some man, for full oft would he bring Sigmund's
wrongs to his memory, apd prick him on to slay King
Siggeir.

Now on a time as they fare abroad in the woods for
the getting of wealth, they find a certain house, and two
men with great gold rings asleep therein : now these twain
were spell-bound skin-changers,* and wolf-skins were

* ** Skin-changers" were universally believed in once, in Iceland no
less than elsewhere, as see Ari in several places of his history, especially
the episode of Dufthach and Storwolf o' Whale. Men possessing the
power of becoming wolves at intervals, in the present case compelled to
so become, wer-wolves or loupsgarou^ find large place in medieval
story, but were equally well-known in classic times. Belief in them
still lingers in parts of Europe where wolves are to be found.
Herodotus tells of the Neuri, who assumed once a year the shape of

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hanging up over them in the house; and every tenth day
might they come out of those skins ; and they were kings'
sons : so Sigmund and Sinfjotli do the wolf-skins on them,
and then might they nowise come out of them, though
forsooth the same nature went with them as heretofore;
they howled as wolves howl, but both knew the meaning of
that howling ; they lay out in the wild-wood, and each went
his way; and a word they made betwixt them, that they
should risk the onset of seven men, but no more, and that
he who was first to be set on should howl in wolfish wise :
" Let us not depart from this," says Sigmund, ** for thou art
young and over-bold, and men will deem the quarry good,
when they take thee."

Now each goes his way, and when they were parted,
Sigmund meets certain men, and gives forth a wolfs
howl; and when Sinfjotli heard it, he went straightway
thereto, and slew them all, and once more they parted.
But ere Sinfjotli has fared long through the woods, eleven
men meet him, and he wrought in such wise that he slew
them all, and was awearied therewith, and crawls under an
oak, and there takes his rest. Then came Sigmund
thither, and said —

" Why didst thou not call on me ? "

Sinfjotii said, " I was loth to call for thy help for the
slaying of eleven men."

Then Sigmund rushed at him so hard that he staggered

wolves 5 Pliny says that one of the family of Antaeus, chosen by lot
annually, became a wolf, and so remained for nine years ; Giraldus
Camlvensis will have it that Irishmen may become wolves; and
Nennius asserts point-blank that '' the descendants of wolves are still
in Ossory ; " they retransform themselves into wolves when they bite.
Apuleius, Petronius, and Lucian have similar stories. The Emperor
Sigismund convoked a council of theologians in the fifteenth century
' iR^o decided that wer- wolves did exist.

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22

THE STOR Y OF THE

and felly and Sigmund bit him in the throat Now that
day they might not come out of their wolf-skins: but
Sigmund lays the other on his back, and bears him home
to the house, and cursed the wolf-gears and gave them to
the trolls. Now on a day he saw where two weasels went,
and how that one bit the other in the throat, and then ran
straightway into the thicket, and took up a leaf and laid it
on the wound, and thereon his fellow sprang up quite and
clean whole ; so Sigmund went out and saw a raven flying
with a blade of that same herb to him ; so he took it
and drew it over SinQotli's hurt^ and he straightway sprang
up as whole as though he had never been hurt There-
after they went home to their earth-house, and abode there
till the time came for them to put off the wdf-shapes ;
then they burnt them up with fire, and prayed that no more
hurt might come to any one from them; but in that
uncouth guise they wrought many famous deeds in the
kingdom and lordship of King Siggeir.

Now when Sinfjotli was come to man's estate, Sigmund
deemed he had tried him fully, and or ever a long time has
gone by he turns his mind to the avenging of his father, if
so it may be brought about ; so on a certain day the twain
get them gone from their earth-house, and come to the abode
of King Siggeir late in the evening, and go into the porch
before the hall, wherein were tuns of ale, and there they lie
hid : now the queen is ware of them, where they are, and is
fain to meet them ; and when they met they took counsel,
and were of one mind that Volsung should be revenged
that same night

Now Signy and the king had two children of tender age,
who played with a golden toy on the floor, and bowled it
along the pavement of the hall, running along with it ; but
therewith a golden ring from off it trundles away into the

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS, 23

place where Sigmund and Sinfjotli lay, and off runs the
little one to search for the same, and beholds withal where
two men are sitting, big and grimly to look on, with
overhanging helms and bright white byrnies ;♦ so he runs
up the hall to his father, and tells him of the sight he has
seen, and thereat the king misdoubts of some guile abiding
him ; but Signy heard their speech, and arose and took
both the children, and went out into the porch to them and
said —

"Lo ye! these younglings have bewrayed you; come
now therefore and slay them ! "

Sigmund says, " Never will I slay thy children for telling
of where I lay hid."

But Sinfjotli made little enow of it, but drew his sword
and slew them both, and cast them into the hall at King
Siggeir's feet.

Then up stood the king and cried on his men to take
those who had lain privily in the porch through the night
So they ran thither and would lay hands on them, but
they stood on their defence well and manly, and long
he remembered it who was the nighest to them; but in
the end they were borne down by many men and taken,
and bonds were set upon them, and they were cast into
fetters wherein they sit night long.

Then the king ponders what longest and worst of deaths
he shall mete out to them ; and when morning came he let
make a great barrow of stones and turf; and when it was
done, let set a great flat stone midmost inside thereof, so
that one edge was aloft, the other alow ; and so great it was
that it went from wall to wall, so that none might pass it.

Now he bids folk take Sigmund and Sinfjoth and set
them in the barrow, on either side of the stone, for the
* Bymy (A.S. byme)^ corslet, cuirass.

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34 THE STORY OF THE

worse for them he deemed it, that they might hear each
the other's speech, and yet that neither might pass one to
the other. But now, while they were covering in the
barrow with the turf-slips, thither came Signy, bearing straw
with her, and cast it down to Sinfjotli, and bade the thralls
hide this thing from the king ; they said yea thereto, and
therewithal was the barrow closed in.

But when night fell, Sintjotli said to Sigmund, '* Belike
we shall scarce need meat for a while, for here has the
queen cast swine's flesh into the barrow, and wrapped it
round about on the outer side with straw."

Therewith he handles the flesh and finds that therein
was thrust Sigmund's sword ; and he knew it by the hilts,
as mirk as it might be in the barrow, and tells Sigmund
thereof and of that were they both fain enow.

Now Sinfjotli drave the point of the sword up into
the big stone, and drew it hard along, and the sword bit
on the stone. With that Sigmund caught the sword by
the point, and in this wise they sawed the stone between
them, and let not or all the sawing was done that need be
done, even as the song sings :

" Sinfjotli sawed
And Sigmund sawed,
Atwain with main
The stone was done."

Now are they both together loose in the barrow, and
soon they cut both through stone and through iron, and
bring themselves out thereof. Then they go home to the
hall, whenas all men slept there, and bear wood to the hall,
and lay fire therein ; and withal the folk therein are waked
by the smoke, and by the hall burning over their heads.

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Then the king cries out, " Who kindled this fire, I bum
withal?"

" Here am I," says Sigmund, ** with Sinfjotli, my sister's
son ; and we are minded that thou shalt wot well that all
the Volsungs are not yet dead."

Then he bade his sister come out, and take all good
things at his hands, and great honour, and fair atonement
in that wise, for all her griefs.

But she answered, "Take heed now, and consider,
if I have kept King Siggeir in memory, and his slaying of
Volsung the king ! I let slay both my children, whom I
deemed worthless for the revenging of our father, and I
went into the wood to thee in a witch-wife's shape ; and
now behold, Sinfjotli is the son of thee and of me both !
,and therefore has he this so great hardihood and fierceness,
in that he is the son both of Volsung*s son and Volsung's
daughter; and for this, and for naught else, have I so
wrought, that Siggeir might get his bane at last; and all
these things have I done that vengeance might fall on him,
and that I too might not live long ; and merrily now will I
die with King Siggeir, though I was naught merry to wed
him."

Therewith she kissed Sigmund her brother, and Sinfjotli,
and went back again into the fire, and there she died with
King Siggeir and all his good men.

But the two kinsmen gathered together folk and ships,
and Sigmund went back to his father's land, and drave
away thence the king, who had set himself down there in
the room of king Volsung.

So Sigmund became a mighty King and far-famed, wise
and high-minded : he had to wife one named Bor^hild,
and two sons they had between them, one named Helgi
and the other Hamund ; and when Helgi was born, Noms

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26 THE STORY OF THE

came to him,* and spake over him, and said that he should
be in time to come the most renowned of all kings. Even
therewith was Sigmund come home from the wars, and so
therewith he gives him the name of Helgi, and these
matters as tokens thereof, Land of Rings, Sun-litten Hill,
and Sharp-shearing Sword, and withal prayed that he might,
grow of great fame, and like unto the kin of the Volsungs.

And so it was that he grew up high-minded, and well-
beloved, and above all other men in all prowess ; and the
story tells that he went to the wars when he was fifteen
winters old. Helgi was lord and ruler over the army,
but Sinfjotli was gotten to be his fellow herein; and so
the twain bare sway thereover.

* " Noras came to him," Nornir are the fates of the northera
m3rthology. They are three — Urdy the past; Verdandit the present; •
and Skuldf the future. They sit beside the fountain of Urd ( Urdarbru-
nur), which is below one of the roots of Yggdrasily the world-tree,
which tree their office it is to nourish by sprinkling it with the waters
of the fountain.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 27

CHAP. IX.

How Helgiy the son of Sigmund^ won King Hodbrod and
his Realniy and wedded Sigrun,

1^ OW the tale tells that Helgi in his warring met a king
^ ^ hight Hunding, a mighty king, and lord of many
men and many lands ; they fell to battle together, and
Helgi went forth mightily, and such was the end of that
fight that Helgi had the victory, but King Hunding fell and
many of his men with him ; but Helgi is deemed to have
grown greatly in fame because he had slain so mighty a king.

Then the sons of Hunding draw together a great army
to avenge their father. Hard was the fight betwixt them ;
but Helgi goes through the folk of those brothers unto
their banner, and there slays these sons of Hunding, Alf
and Eyolf, Herward and Hagbard, and wins there a great
victory.

Now as Helgi fared from the fight, he met a many
women right fair and worthy to look on, who rode in
exceeding noble array ; but one far excelled them all ; then
Helgi asked them the name of that their lady and queen,
and she named herself Sigrun, and said she was daughter
of King Hogni.

Then said Helgi, " Fare home with us : good welcome
shall ye have ! "

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Then said the king's daughter, " Other work lies before
us than to drink with thee."

"Yea, and what work, king's daughter? " said HelgL

She answers, "King Hogni has promised me to Hod-
brod, the son of King Granmar, but I have vowed a vow
that I will have him to my husband no more than if he
were a crow's son and not a king's ; and yet will the thing
come to pass, but and if thou standest in the way thereof
and goest against him with an army, and takest me away
withal; for verily with no king would I rather bide on
bolster than with thee."

"Be of good cheer, king's daughter," says he, "for certes
he and I shall try the matter, or ever thou be given to
him ; yea, we shall behold which may prevail against the
other ; and hereto I pledge my life."

Thereafter, Helgi sent men with money in their hands
to summon his folk to him, and all his power is called
together to Red-Berg: and there Helgi abode till such
time as a great company came to him from Hedinsey ; and
therewithal came mighty power from Norvi Sound aboard
great and fair ships. Then King Helgi called to him the
captain of his ships, who was hight Leif, and asked him if
he had told over the tale of his army.

"A thing not easy to tell, lord," says he, "on the ships
that came out of Norvi Sound are twelve thousand men,
and otherwhere are half as many again."

Then bade King Helgi turn into the firth, called VarinV
firth, and they did so : but now there fell on them so fierce
a storm and so huge a sea, that the beat of the waves on
board and bow was to hearken to like as the clashing
together of high hills broken.

But Helgi bade men fear naught, nor take in any sail,
but rather hoist every rag higher than heretofore; but

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little did they miss of foundering or ever they made land ;
then came Sigrun, daughter of King Hogni, down on to
the beach with a great army, and turned them away thence
to a good haven called Gnipalund ; but the landsmen see
what has befallen and come down to the sea-shore. The
brother of King Hodbrod, lord of a land called Swarin's
Cairn, cried out to them, and asked them who was captain
over that mighty army. Then up stands SinQotli, with a
helm on his head, bright shining as glass, and a bymy as
white as snow ; a spear in his hand, and thereon a banner
of renown, and a gold-rimmed shield hanging before
him; and well he knew with what words to speak to
kings —

"Go thou and say, when thou hast made an end of
feeding thy swine and thy dogs, and when thou beholdest
thy wife again, that here are come the Volsungs, and in this
company may King Helgi be found, if Hodbrod be fain of
finding him, for his game and his joy it is to fight and
win fame, while thou art kissing the handmaids by the
fire-side."

Then answered Granmar, " In nowise knowest thou how
to speak seemly things, and to tell of matters remembered
firom of old, whereas thou layest lies on chiefs and lords ;
most like it is that thou must have long been nourished
with wolf-meat abroad in the wild-woods, and has slain
thy brethren; and a marvel it is to behold that thou
darest to join thyself to the company of good men and
true, thou, who hast sucked the blood of many a cold
corpse."

SinQotli answered, "Dim belike is grown thy memory
now, of how thou wert a witch-wife on Varinsey, and
wouldst fain have a man to thee, and chose me to that
same office of all the world ; and how thereafter thou wert

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30 THE STOR Y OF THE

a Valkyria* in Asgarth, and it well-nigh came to this, that
for thy sweet sake should all men fight; and nine wolf-
whelps I begat on thy body in Lowness, and was the father
to them all."

Granmar answers, " Great skill of lying hast thou \ yet
belike the father of naught at all mayst thou be, since thou
wert gelded by the giant's daughters of Thrasness ; and lo
thou art the stepson of King Siggeir, and were wont to lie
abroad in wilds and woods with the kin of wolves ; and
unlucky was the hand wherewith thou slewest thy brethren,
making for thyself an exceeding evil name."

Said Sinfjotli, " Mindest thou not then, when thou were
stallion Grani's mare, and how I rode thee an amble on
Bravoll, and that afterwards thou wert giant Golnir*s goat-
herd?"

Granmar says, "Rather would I feed fowls with the
flesh of thee than wrangle any longer with thee."

Then spake King Helgi, " Better were it for ye, and a
more manly deed, to fight, rather than to speak such things
as it is a shame even to hearken to ; Granmar's sons are
no friends of me and of mine, yet are they hardy men none
the less."

So Granmar rode away to meet King Hodbrod, at a
stead called Sunfells, and the horses of the twain were
named Sveipud and Sveggjud. The brothers met in the
castle-porch, and Granmar told Hodbrod of the war-news.
King Hodbrod was clad in a bymy, and had his helm on
his head ; he asked —

" What men are anigh, why look ye so wrathful ? "

Granmar says, **Here are come the Volsungs, and

* Valkyija, "Chooser of the elected." The women were so called
whom Odin sent to choose those for death in battle who were to join
the Einherjar in the hall of the elected, " VaUholV^

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 31

twelve thousand men of them are afloat off the coast, and
seven thousand are at the island called Sok, but at the
stead called Grindur is the greatest company of all, and
now I deem withal that Helgi and his fellowship have good
will to give battle."

Then said the king, "Let us send a message through all
our realm, and go against them, neither let any who b fain
of fight sit idle at home ; let us send word to the sons of
Ring, and to King Hogni, and to Alf the Old, for they are
mighty warriors."

So the hosts met at Wolfstone, and fierce fight befell
there ; Helgi rushed forth through the host of his foes, and
many a man fell there ; at last folk saw a great company of
shield-maidens, like burning flames to look on, and there
was come Sigrun, the king's daughter. Then King Helgi
fell on King Hodbrod, and smote him, and slew him even
under his very banner ; and Sigrun cried out —

*' Have thou thanks for thy so manly deed ! now shall we
share the land between us, and a day of great good hap
this is to me, and for this deed shalt thou get honour and
renown, in that thou hast felled to earth so mighty a king."

So Helgi took to him that realm and dwelt there long,
when he had wedded Sigrun, and became a king of great
honour and renown, though he has naught more to do with
this story.

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33 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. X.

The Ending of Sinffotli, SigmuncPs Son.

TVrOW the Volsungs fare back home, and have gained
•'• ^ great renown by these deeds. But SinQotli betook
himself to warfare anew ; and therewith he had sight of an
exceeding fair woman, and yearned above all things for her;
but that same woman was wooed also of the brother of
Borghild, the king's wife : and this matter they fought out
betwixt them, and Sinfjotli slew that king ; and thereafter
he harried far and wide, and had many a battle and ever
gained the day; and he became hereby honoured and
renowned above all men; but in autumn tide he came
home with many ships and abundant wealth.

Then he told his tidings to the king his father, and he
again to the queen, and she for her part bids him get him
gone from the realm, and made as if she would in nowise
see him. But Sigmund said he would not drive him away,
and offered her atonement of gold and great wealth for her
brother's life, albeit he said he had never erst given were-
gild* to any for the slaying of a man, but no fame it was to
uphold wrong against a woman.

So seeing she might not get her own way herein, she

* Weregild, fine for man-slaying {wer^ man, and gUd^ a payment).

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said, '' Have thy will in this matter, O my lord, for it is
seemly so to be."

And now she holds the funeral feast for her brother by
the aid and counsel of the king, and makes ready all things
therefor in the best of wise, and bade thither many great
men.

At that feast, Borghild the queen bare the drink to folk,
and she came over against Sinfjotli with a great horn, and
said —

" Fall to now and drink, fair stepson ! **

Then be took the horn to him, and looked therein, and
said —

** Nay, for the drink is charmed drink."

Then said Sigmund, " Give it unto me then ; " and there-
with he took the horn and drank it oflf.

But the queen said to Sinfjotli, " Why must other men
needs drink thine ale for thee ? " And she came again the
second time with the horn, and said, '' Come now and
drink ! '^ and goaded him with many words.

And he took the horn, and said —

" Guile is in the drink."

And thereon, Sigmund cried out —

'* Give it then unto me ! "

Again, the third time, she came to him, and bade him
drink off his drink, if he had the heart of a Vobung \ then
he laid hand on the horn, but said —

** Venom is therein."

"Nay, let the lip strain it out then, O son," quoth
Sigmund ; and by then was he exceeding drunk with drink,
and therefore spake he in that wise.

So Sinfjotli drank, and straightway fell down dead to the
ground.

Sigmund rose up, and sorrowed nigh to death over him ;

003

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34 THE STORY OF THE

then he took the corpse in his arms and fared away to the
wood, and went till he came to a certain firth ; and there
he saw a man in a little boat ; and that man asked if he
would be wafted by him over the firth, and he said yea
thereto; but so little was the boat, that they might not all
go in it at once, so the corpse was first laid therein, while
Sigmund went by the firth-side. But therewith the boat
and the man therein vanished away from before Sigmund's
eyes.*

So thereafter Sigmund turned back home, and drave
away the queen, and a little after she died. But Sigmund
the king yet ruled his realm, and is deemed ever the
greatest champion and king of the old law.

* The man in the boat is Odin, doubtless.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 35

CHAP, XL

Of King SigmuncPs last Battle^ and of haw he must yield
up his Sword again,

n^HERE was a king called Eylimi, mighty and of great
-^ fame, and his daughter was called Hjordis, the
fairest and wisest of womankind ; and Sigmund hears it told
of her that she was meet to be his wife, yea if none else
were. So he goes to the house of King Eylimi, who would
make a great feast for him, if so be he comes not thither in
the guise of a foe. So messages were sent from one to the
other that this present journey was a peaceful one, and not
for war ; so the feast was held in the best of wise and with
many a man thereat; feirs were in* every place established
for King Sigmund, and all things else were done to the
aid and comfort of his journey : so he came to the feast,
and both kings hold their state in one hall ; thither also
was come King Lyngi, son of King Hunding, and he also
is a-wooing the daughter of King Eylimi.

Now the king deemed he knew that the twain had come
thither but for one errand, and thought withal that war and
trouble might be looked for from the hands of him who
brought not his end about; so he spake to his daughter,
and said —

"Thou art a wise woman, and I have spoken it, that

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36 THE STORY OF THE

thou alone shalt choose a husband for thyself; choose
therefore between these two kings, and my rede shall be
even as thine."

"A hard and troublous matter," says she; '*yet will I
choose him who is of greatest fame. King Sigmund to wit,
albeit he is well stricken in years."

So to him was she betrothed, and King Ljmgi gat him
gone. Then was Sigmund wedded to Hjordis, and now
each day was the feast better and more glorious than on
the day before it But thereafter Sigmund went back
home to Hunland, and King Eylimi, his father-in-law, with
him, and King Sigmund betakes himself to the due ruling
of his realm.

But King Lyngi and hiis brethren gather an army
together to fall on Sigmund, for as in all matters they were
wont to have the worser lot, so did this Dite the sorest of
all ; and they would fain prevail over the might and pride
of the Volsungs. So they came to Hunland, and sent King
Sigmund word how that they would not steal upon him,
and that they deemed he would scarce slink away from
them. So Sigmund said he would come and meet them in
battle, and drew his power together; but Hjordis was
borne into the wood with a certain bondmaid, and mighty
wealth went with them; and there she abode the while
they fought.

Now the vikings rushed from their ships in numbers not
to be borne up against, but Sigmund the King, and Eylimi,
set up their banners, and the horns blew up to battle ; but
King Sigmund let blow the horn his father erst had had,
and cheered on his men to the fight, but his army was far
the fewest

Now was that battle fierce and fell, and though Sigmund
were old, yet most hardily he fought, and was ever the

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 37

foremost of his men ; no shield or bymy might hold against
him, and he went ever through the ranks of his foemen on
that day, and no man might see how things would fare
between them ; many an arrow and many a spear was aloft
in air that day, and so his spae-wrights wrought for him
that he got no wound, and none can tell over the tale of
those who fell before him, and both his arms were red
with blood, even to the shoulders.

But now whenas the battle had dured a while, there
came a man into the fight clad in a blue doak, and with
a slouched hat on his head, one-eyed he was^, and bare
a bill in his hand; and he came against Sigmund the
King, and have up his bill against him, and as Sigmund
smote fiercely with the sword it fell upon the bill and
burst asunder in the midst: thenceforth the slaughter
and dismay turned to his side, for the good-hap of King
Sigmund had departed from him, and his men fell fast
about him; naught did the king spare himself but the
rather cheered on his men; but even as the saw says.
No might Against many^ so was it now proven ; and in
this fight fell Sigmund the King, and King Eylimi, his
father-in-law, in the fore-front of their battle, and therewith
the more part of their folk.

* Odin coining to change the ownership of the sword he had giyen
Sigmund. Sec p. 7.

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38 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XII.

Of the Shards of the Sword Gram^ and haw Hjordis went
to King Alf

TVrOW King L)mgi made for the king's abode, and
■*• ^ was minded to take the king*s daughter there, but
failed herein, for there he found neither wife nor wealth :
so he fared' through all the realm, and gave his men
rule thereover, and now deemed that he had slain all
the kin of the Volsungs, and that he need dread them
no more from henceforth.

Now Hjordis went amidst the slain that night of the
battle, and came whereas lay King Sigmund, and asked
if he might be healed ; but he answered —

"Many a man lives after hope has grown littie; but
my good-hap has departed from me, nor will I suffer
myself to be healed, nor wills Odin that I should ever
draw sword s^ain, since this my sword and his is broken ;
lo now, I have waged war while it was his will"

"Naught ill would I deem matters," said she, "if thou
mightest be healed and avenge my father."

The king said, " That is fated for another man ; behold
now, thou art great with a man-child; nourish him well
and with good heed, and the child shall be the noblest and
most famed of all our kin : and keep well withal the shards

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 39

of the sword : thereof shall a goodly sword be made, and
it shall be called Gram, and our son shall bear it, and shall
work many a great work therewith, even such as eld shall
never minish ; for his name shall abide and flourish as long
as the world shall endure : and let this be enow for thee.
But now I grow weary with my wounds, and I will go see
our kin that have gone before me.**

So Hjordis sat over him till he died at the day-dawning ;
and then she looked, and behold, there came many ships
sailing to the land : then she spake to the handmaid —

" Let us now change raiment, and be thou called by my
name, and say that thou art the king's daughter."

And thus they did; but now the vikings behold the
great slaughter of men there, and see where two women
fare away thence into the wood; and they deem that
some great tidings must have befallen, and they leaped
ashore from out their ships. Now the captain of these
folks was Alf, son of Hjalprek, king of Denmark, who
was sailing with his power along the land. So they
came into the field among the slain, and saw how many
men lay dead there ; then the king bade go seek for the
women and bring them thither, and they did so. He
asked them what women they were; and, little as the
thing seems Hke to be, the bondmaid answered for the
twain, telling of the fall of King Sigmund and King Eylimi,
and many another great man, and who they were withal
who had wrought the deed Then the king asks if they
wotted where the wealth of the king was bestowed ; and
then says the bondmaid —

"It may well be deemed that we know full surely
thereof."

And therewith she guides them to the place where
the treasure lay: and there they found exceeding great

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40 THE STORY OF THE

wealth; so that men deem they have never seen so many
things of price heaped up together in one place. All
this they bore to the ships of King Al^ and Hjordis and
the bondmaid went with them. Therewith these sail away
to their own reahn, and talk how that surely on that
field had fallen the most renowned of kings.

So the king sits by the tiller, but the women abide in the
forecastle ; but talk he had with the women and held their
counsels of much account.

In such wise the king came home to his realm with
great wealth, and he himself was a man exceeding goodly
to look on. But when he had been but a little while
at home, the queen, his mother, asked him why the fairest
of the two women had the fewer rings and the less worthy
attire.

"I deem," she said, "that she whom ye have held of
least account is the noblest of the twain."

He answered : " I too have misdoubted me, that she is
little Hke a bondwoman, and when we first met, in seemly
wise she greeted noble men. Lo now, we will make a
trial of the thing."

So on a time as men sat at the drink, the king sat down
to talk with the women, and said —

"In what wise do ye note the wearing of the hours,
whenas night grows old, if ye may not see the lights of
heaven ? "

Then says the bondwoman, "This sign have I, that
whenas in my youth I was wont to drink much in the
dawn, so now when I no longer use that manner, I am yet
wont to wake up at that very same tide, and by that token
do I know thereof."

Then the king laughed and said, "111 manners for a
king's daughter ! " And therewith he turned to Hjordis,

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 41

and asked her even the same question ; but she an-
swered —

" My father erst gave me a Httle gold ring of such nature,
that it groweth cold on my finger in the day-dawning ; and
that is the sign that I have to know thereof."

The king answered : " Enow of gold there, where a very
bondmaid bore it ! but come now, thou hast been long
enow hid from me ; yet if thou hadst told me all from the
beginning, I would have done to thee as though we had
both been one king's children : but better than thy deeds
will I deal with thee, for thou shalt be my wife, and due
jointiure will I pay thee whenas thou hast borne me a
child."

She spake therewith and told out the whole truth about
herself: so there was she held in great honour, and deemed
the worthiest of women.

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4« TIJE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XIII.

Of the Birth and Waxing of Sigurd Fafnit^ s-bane.

T^HE tale tells that Hjordis brought forth a man-child,
-^ who was straightly borne before King Hjalprek, and
then was the king glad thereof, when he saw the keen eyes
in the head of him, and he said that few men would be
equal to him or like unto him in any wise. So he was
sprinkled with water, and had to name Sigurd, of whom all
men speak with one speech and say that none was ever his
like for growth and goodliness. He was brought up in the
house of King Hjalprek in great love and honour ; and so
it is, that whenso all the noblest men and greatest kings are
named in the olden tales, Sigurd is ever put before them all,
for might and prowess, for high mind and stout heart,
wherewith he was far more abundantly gifted than any
man of the northern parts of the wide world.

So Sigurd waxed in King Hjalprek's house, and there
was no child but loved him; through him was Hjordis
betrothed to King Alf, and jointure meted to her.

Now Sigurd^s foster-father was hight Regin, the son
of Hreidmar ; he taught him all manner of arts, the chess
play, and the lore of runes, and the talking of many
tongues, even as the wont was with kings' sons in those
days. But on a day when they were together, Regin

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 43

asked Sigufd, if he knew how much wealth his father had
owned, and who had the ward thereof; Sigurd answered,
and said that the kings kept the ward thereof.

Said Regin, " Dost thou trust them all utterly ? "

Sigurd said, " It is seemly that they keep it till I may do
somewhat therewith, for better they wot how to guard it
than I do."

Another time came Regin to talk to Sigurd, and said —

** A marvellous thing truly that thou must needs be
a horse-boy to the kings, and go about like a running
knave.'*

**Nay," jsaid Sigurd, "it is not so, for in all things I
have my will, and whatso thing I desire is granted me with
good will."

" Well, then," said Regin, " ask for a horse of them."

"Yea," quoth Sigurd, "and that shall I have, whenso I
have need thereof."

Thereafter Sigurd went to the king, and the king said —

" What wilt thou have of us ? "

Then said Sigurd, " I would even a horse of thee for my
disport"

Then said the king, "Choose for thyself a horse, and
whatso thing else thou desirest among my matters."

So the next day went Sigurd to the wood, and met on
the way an old man, long-bearded, that he knew not, who
asked him whither away.

Sigurd said, " I am minded to choose me a horse ; come
thou, and counsel me thereon."

"Well then," said he, "go we and drive them to the
river which is called Busil-tarn."

They did so, and drave the horses down into the deeps
of the river, and all swam back to land but one horse ; and
that horse Sigurd chose for himself; grey he was of hue.

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44 THE STOR Y OF THE

and young of years, great of growth, and fair to look on,
nor had any man yet crossed his back.

Then spake the grey-beard, " From Sleipnir's kin is this
horse come, and he must be nourished heedfully, for it will
be the best of all horses ; " and therewithal he vanished
away.

So Sigurd called the horse Grani, the best of all the
horses of the world ; nor was the man he met other than
Odin himself.

Now yet again spake Regin to Sigurd, and said —

"Not enough is thy wealth, and I grieve right sore
that thou must needs run here and there like a churl's
son ; but I can tell thee where there is much wealth for
the winning, and great name and honour to be won in the.
getting of It"

Sigurd asked where that might be, and who had watch
and ward over it

Regin answered, " Fafnir is his name, and but a little
way hence he lies, on the waste of Gnita-heath ; and when
thou comest there thou mayst well say that thou hast never
seen more gold heaped together in one place, and that
none might desire more treasure, though he were the most
ancient and famed of all kings.''

"Young am I," says Sigurd, ** yet know I the fashion of
this worm, and how that none durst go against him, so
huge atid evil is he."

Regin said, "Nay it is riot so, the fashion and the
growth of him is even as of other lingworms,* and an over
great tale men make of it ; and even so would thy fore-
fathers have deemed ; but thou, though thou be of the kin
of the Volsungs, shalt scarce have the heart and mind
of those, who are told of as the first in all deeds of fame."
* Lingworm — ^longwonxii dragon.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 45

Sigurd said, ** Yea, belike I have little of their hardihood
and prowess, but thou hast naught to do, to lay a coward's
name upon me, when I am scarce out of my childish years.
Why dost thou ^^g^ me on hereto so busily ? "

Regin said, "Therein lies a tale which I must needs
tell thee/'

" Let me hear the same," said Sigurd.

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46 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XIV.

RegirCs tale of his Brothers^ and of the Gold called
AndvarVs Hoard,

"HPHUS the tale begins," said Regin. " Hreidmar was my
•^ father's name, a mighty man and a wealthy : and his
first son was named Fafhir, his second Otter, and I was the
third, and the least of them all both for prowess and
good conditions, but I was cunning to work in iron, and
silver, and gold, whereof I could make matters that availed
somewhat Other skill my brother Otter followed, and
had another nature withal, for he was a great fisher,
and above other men herein ; in that he had the likeness
of an otter by day, and dwelt ever in the river, and bare
fish to bank in his mouth, and his prey would he ever bring
to our father, and that availed him much: for the most
part he kept him in his otter-gear, and then he would come
home, and eat alone, and slumbering, for on the dry land
he might see naught. But Fafnir was by far the greatest
and grimmest, and would have all things about called
his.

'* Now," says Regin, " there was a dwarf called Andvari,
who ever abode in that force,* which was called Andvari's
force, in the likeness of a pike, and got meat for himself
♦ Waterfall (Ice. >jj,/£w),

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VOLSVNGS AND NIBLUNGS, 47

for many fish there were in the force; now Otter, my
brother, was ever wont to enter into the force, and bring
fish aland, and lay them one by one on the bank. And so
it befell that Odin, Loki, and Hoenir, as they went their
ways, came to Andvari's force, and Otter had taken a
salmon, and ate it slumbering upon the river bank ; then
Loki took a stone and cast it at Otter, so that he gat
his death thereby ; the gods were well content with their
prey, and fell to flaying off the otter's skin ; and in the
evening they came to Hreidmar's house, and showed him
what they had taken : theifeon he laid hands on them, and
doomed them to such ransom, as that they should fill the
otter skin with gold, and cover it over without with red
gold ; so they sent Loki to gather gold together for them ;
he came to Ran,* and got her net, and went therewith to
Andvari's force, and cast the net before the pike, and the
pike ran into the net and was taken. Then said Loki —

" * What fish of all fishes.

Swims strong in the flood,
But hath learnt little wit to beware?

Thine head must thou buy.

From abiding in hell,
And find me the wan waters flame.'

He answered —

• Ran is the goddess of the sea, wife of -^Egir. The otter was held
sacred by Norsefolk and figures in the m3rth and legend of most races
besides ; to this day its killing is held a great crime by the Parsees
(Haug. Religion of the Parsees, page 212). Compare penalty above
with that for killing the Welsh king's cat {Ancient Laws and Institutes
of Wales, Ed., Aneurin Owen. Longman, London, 1841, 2 vols.
8vo).

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48 THE STORY OF THE

" * Andvari folk call me,

Call Oinij my father,
Over many a force have I fared ;

For a Nom of ill-luck.

This life on me lay
Through wet ways ever to wade.'

"So Loki beheld the gold of Andvari, and when he
had given up the gold, he had but one ring left, and that
also Loki took from him ; then the dwarf went into a
hollow of the rocks, and cried out, that that gold-ring, yea
and all the gold withal, should be the bane of every man
who should own it thereafter.

" Now the gods rode with the treasure to Hreidmar, and
fulfilled the otter-skin, and set it on its feet, and they must
cover it over utterly with gold : but when this was done
then Hreidmar came forth, and beheld yet one of the
muzzle hairs, and bade them cover that withal ; then Odin
drew the ring, Andvari's loom, from his hand, and covered
up the hair therewith ; then sang Loki —

" * Gold enow, gold enow,

A great weregild, thou hast,
That my head in good hap I may hold;

But thou and thy son

Are naught fated to thrive,
The bane shall it be of you both.*

"Thereafter," says Regin, "Fafn^r slew his father and
murdered him, nor got I aught of the treasure, and so evil
he grew, that he fell to lying abroad, and begrudged any
share in the wealth to any man, and so became the worst
of all worms, and ever now lies brooding upon that

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 49

treasure : but for me, I went to the king and became his
master-smith ; and thus is the tale told of how I lost the
heritage of my father, and the weregild for my brother."

So spake Regin; but since that time gpld is called
Ottergild, and for no other cause than this.

But Sigurd answered, "Much hast thou lost, and
exceeding evil have thy kinsmen been ! but now, make
a sword by thy craft, such a sword as that none can be
made like unto it ; so that I may do great deeds therewith,
if my heart avail thereto, and thou wouldst have me slay
this mighty dragon."

Regin says, " Trust me well herein ; and with that same
sword shalt thou slay Fafnir."

004

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so THE STOR Y OF THE

CHAR XV.

Of the Welding together of the Shards of the Sword Gram.

CO Regin makes a sword, and gives it into Sigurd's
^ hands. He took the sword, and said —

'' Behold thy smithying, Regin ! ^ and therewith smote
it into the anvO, and the sword brake ; so he cast down the
brand, and bade him forge a better.

'Then Regin forged another sword, and brought it to
Sigurd, who looked thereon.

Then said Regin, " Belike thou art well content there-
with, hard master though thou be in smithying."

So Sigurd proved the sword, and brake it even as the
first ; then he said to Regin —

^* Ah, art thou, mayhappen, a traitor and a liar like to
those former kin of thine ? "

Therewith he went to his mother^ and she welcomed him
in seemly wise, and they talked and drank together.

Then spake Sigurd, "Have I heard aright, that King
Sigmund gave thee the good sword Gram in two pieces ? "

" True enough," she said.

So Sigurd said, "Deliver them into my hands, for I
would have them."

She said he looked like to win great fame, and gave him
the sword. Therewith went Sigurd to Regin, and bade
him make a good sword thereof as he best might ; Regin

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 51

grew wroth thereat, but went into the smithy with the
pieces of the sword, thinking well meanwhile that Sigurd
pushed his head far enow into the matter of smithying. So
he made a sword, and as he bore it forth from the forge, it
seemed to the smiths as though fire burned along the edges
thereof. Now he bade Sigurd take the sword, and said he
knew not how to make a sword if this one failed. Then
Sigurd smote it into the anvil, and deft it down to the stock
thereof, and neither burst the sword nor brake it Then
he praised the sword much, and thereafter went to the
river with a lock of wool, and threw it up against the
stream, and it fell asunder when it met the sword. Then
was Sigurd glad, and went home.

But Regin said, "Now whereas I have made the sword
for thee, belike thou wilt hold to thy troth given, and wilt
go meet Fafnir?"

"Surely will I hold thereto," said Sigurd, "yet first must
I avenge my father."

Now Sigurd the older he grew, the more he grew in the
love of all men, so that every child loved him well

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52 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XVI.

The Prophecy of Grifir,

npHERE was a man hight Grifir,* who was Sigurd's
^ mother's brother, and a Uttle after the forging of the
sword Sigurd went to Grifir, because he was a man who
knew things to come, and what was fated to men : of him
Sigurd asked diligently how his life should go ; but Grifir
was long or he spake, yet at the last, by reason of Sigurd's
exceeding great prayers, he told him all his life and the
fate thereof, even as afterwards came to pass. So when
Grifir had told him all even as he would, he went back
home ; and a little after he and Regin met

Then said Regin, **Go thou and slay Fafnir, even as
thou hast given thy word."

Sigurd said, " That work shall be wrought ; but another
is first to be done, the avenging of Sigmund the king and
the other of my kinsmen who fell in that their last fight"

* Called * • Grlpir " in the Edda.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 53

CHAP. XVII.

OfSigurcPs Avenging of Sigmund his Father,

TVr OW Sigurd went to the kings, and spake thus —
-*■ ^ ** Here have I abode a space with you, and I owe
you thanks and reward, for great love and many gifts and
all due honour ; but now will I away from the land and go
meet the sons of Hunding, and do them to wit that the
Volsungs are not all dead ; and your might would I have
to strengthen me therein."

So the kings said that they would give him all things
soever that he desired, and therewith was a great army got
ready, and all things wrought in the most heedful wise,
ships and all war-gear, so that his journey might be of
the stateliest : but Sigurd himself steered the dragon-keel
which was the greatest and noblest ; richly wrought were
their sails, and glorious to look on.

So they sail and have wind at will ; but when a few days
were overpast, there arose a great storm on the sea, and the
waves were to behold even as the foam of men's blood ;
but Sigurd bade take in no sail, howsoever they might be
riven, but rather to lay on higher than heretofore. But as
they sailed past the rocks of a ness, a certain man hailed
the ships, and asked who was captain over that navy ; then
was it told him that the chief and lord was Sigurd, the son

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54 THE STORY OF THE

of Sigmund, the most famed of all the young men who
now are.

Then said the man, " Naught but one thing, certes, do
all say of him, that none among the sons of kings may be
likened unto him ; now fain were I that ye would shorten
sail on some of the ships, and take me aboard."

Then they asked him of his name, and he sang —

Hnikar I hight,

When I gladdened Huginn,

And went to battle,

Bright son of Volsung ;

Now may ye call

The carl on the cliff top,

Feng or Fjolnir :

Fain would I with you.

They made for land therewith, and took that man aboard.
Then quoth Sigurd,* as the song says —

Tell me this, O Hnikar,

Since full well thou knowest
Fate of Gods, good and ill of mankind,

What best our hap foresheweth,

When amid the battle
About us sweeps the sword edge.

Quoth Hnikar —

Good are many tokens
If thereof men wotted
When the swords are sweeping :

* This and verses following were inserted from the Reginsm&l by the
translators.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLVNGS. 55

Fair fellow deem I
The dark-winged raven,
In war, to weapon-wielder.

The second good thing :

When abroad thou goest
For the long road well arrayed,

Good if thou seest

Two men standing,
Fain of fame within the forecourt

A third thing :

Good hearing,

The wolf a howling
Abroad under ash boughs ;

Good hap shalt thou have

Dealing with helm-staves,
If thou seest these fare before thee.

No man in fight

His face shall turn

Against the moon's sister

Low, late-shining,

For he winneth battle

Who best beholdeth

Through the midmost sword-play.

And the sloping ranks best shapeth.

Great is the trouble
Of foot ill-tripping,
"When arrayed for fight thou farest,

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S6 THE STORY OF THE

For on both sides about
Are the Dfsir* by thee,
Guileful, wishful of thy wounding.

Fair-combed, well washen

Let each warrior be,
Nor lack meat in the morning,

For who can rule

The eve's returning,
And base to fall before fate grovelling.

Then the storm abated, and on they fared till they came
aland in the realm of Hunding's sons, and then Fjolnir
vanished away.

Then they let loose fire and sword, and slew men and
burnt their abodes, and did waste all before them : a great
company of folk fled before the face of them to Lyngi the
King, and tell him that men of war are in the land, and are
faring with such rage and fury that the like has never been
heard of; and that the sons of King Hunding had no great
forecast in that they said they would never fear the
Volsungs more, for here was come Sigurd, the son of
Sigmund, as captain over this army.

So King Lyngi let send the war-message all throughout
his realm, and has no will to flee, but summons to him all
such as would give him aid. So he came against Sigurd
with a great army, he and his brothers with him, and an
exceeding fierce fight befell ; many a spear and many an
arrow might men see there raised aloft, axes hard driven,

• Dfsir, sing, Dls. These are the gu^dian beings who foUow a
man from his birth to his death. The word originally means sister, and
is used throughout the Eddaic poems as a dignified synonym for woman,
lady.

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VOLSUIvGS AND NIBLUNGS. 57

shields cleft and bjrrnies torn, helmets were shivered, skulls
split atwain, and many a man felled to the cold earth.

And now when the fight has long dured in such wise, 7)
Sigurd goes forth before the banners, and has the good V
sword Gram in his hand, and smites down both men and
horses, and goes through the thickest of the throng with
both arms red with blood to the shoulder; and folk
shrank aback before him wheresoever he went, nor would
either helm or bymy hold before him, and no man deemed
he had ever seen his like. So a long while the battle
lasted, and many a man was slain, and furious was the on-
set; till at last it befell, even as seldom comes to hand,
when a land army falls on, that, do whatso they might,
naught was brought about; but so many men fell of the
sons of Hunding that the tale of them may not be told ;
and now whenas Sigurd was among the foremost, came the
sons of Hunding against him, and Sigurd smote therewith
at Lyngi the king, and clave him down, both helm and
head, and mail-clad body, and thereafter he smote
Hjorward his brother atwain, and then slew all the other
sons of Hunding who were yet alive, and the more part of K
their folk withal. JK

Now home goes Sigurd with fair victory won, and
plenteous wealth and great honour, which he had gotten to
him in this journey, and feasts were made for him against
he came back to the realm.

But when Sigurd had been at home but a little, came
Regin to talk with him, and said —

"Belike thou wilt now have good will to bow down
Fafnir's crest according to thy word plighted, since thou
hast thus revenged thy father and the others of thy kin."

Sigurd answered, "That will we hold to, even as we
have promised, nor did it ever fall from our mempry."

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CHAP. XVIII.

Of the Slaying of the Worm Fafnir.

"M'OW Sigurd and Regin ride up the heath along that
^ ^ same way wherein Fafnir was wont to creep when
he fared to the water ; and folk say that thirty fathoms was
the height of that cliff along which he lay when hedrank of
the water below. Then Sigurd spake :

**How sayedst thou, Regin, that this drake* was no
greater than other lingworms ; methinks the track of him is

arvellous great ? "

Then said Regin, '* Make thee a hole, and sit down
therein, and whenas the worm comes to the water, smite
him into the heart, and so do him to death, and win for
thee great fame thereby."

But Sigurd said, " What will betide me if I be before the
blood of the worm ? "

Says Regin, "Of what avail to counsel thee if thou art
still afeard of everything ? Little art thou like thy kin in
stoutness of heart."

Then Sigurd rides right over the heath ; but Regin gets
him gone, sore afeard.

But Sigurd fell to digging him a pit, and whiles he was
• Lat. draco^ a dragon.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 59

at that work, there came to him an old man with a long
beard, and asked what he wrought there, and he told him.

Then answered the old man and said, " Thou doest after
sorry counsel: rather dig thee many pits, and let the
blood run therein ; but sit thee down in one thereof and so
thrust the worm's heart through.*'

And therewithal he vanished away ; but Sigurd made the
pits even as it was shown to him.

Now crept the worm down to his place of watering, and
the earth shook all about him, and he snorted forth venom
on all the way before him as he went ; but Sigurd neither
trembled nor was adrad at the roaring of him. So whenas
the worm crept over the pits, Sigurd thrust his sword under
his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts ; then up
leapt Sigurd from the pit and drew the sword back again
unto him, and therewith was his arm all bloody, up to the
very shoulder.

Now when that mighty worm was ware that he had his
death-wound, then he lashed out head and tail, so that all
things soever that were before him were broken to pieces.

So whenas Fafnir had his death-wound, he asked **Who
art thou ? and who is thy father ? and what thy kin, that
thou wert so hardy as to bear weapons against me ? "

Sigurd answered, " Unknown to men is my kin. I am
called a noble beast :* neither father have I nor mother,
and all alone have I fared hither."

Said Fafnir, "Whereas thou hast neither father nor
mother, of what wonder wert thou bom then? But now,
though thou tellest me not thy name on this my death-day,
yet thou knowest verily that thou liest unto me."

♦ ** Unknown to men is my kin." Sigurd refusing to tell his name
is to be referred to the superstition that a djring man could throw a
curse on his enemy.

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6o THE STORY OF THE

He answered, " Sigurd am I called, and my father was
Sigmund."

Says Fafnir, " Who egged thee on to this deed, and why
wouldst thou be driven to it? Hadst thou never heard
how that all folk were adrad of me, and of the awe of my
countenance? But an eager father thou hadst, O bright-
eyed swain 1 '*

Sigurd answered, **A hardy heart urged me on hereto;
and a strong hand and this sharp sword, which well thou
knowest now, stood me in stead in the doing of the deed ;
Seldom hath hardy eld a faint-heart youih.^^

Fafnir said, " Well, I wot that hadst thou waxed amid
thy kin, thou mightest have good skill to slay folk in thine
anger ; but more of a marvel is it, that thou, a bondsman
taken in war, shouldst have the heart to set on m.^ for few
among bondsmen have heart for the fights

Said Sigurd, " Wilt thou then cast it in my teeth that I
am far away from my kin? Albeit I was a bondsman, yet
was I never shackled. God wot thou hast found me
free enow."

Fafnir answered, "In angry wise dost thou take my
speech; but hearken, for that same gold which I have
owned shall be thy bane too.''

Quoth Sigurd, "Fain would we keep all our wealth till
that day of days ; yet shall each man die once for all."

Said Fafnir, ** Few things wilt thou do after my counsel ;
but take heed that thou shalt be drowned if thou farest
unwarily over the sea ; so bide thou rather on the dry land,
for the coming of the calm tide."

Then said Sigurd, "Speak, Fafnir, and say, if thou art so
exceeding wise, who are the Noms who rule the lot of all
mothers' sons."

Fafnir answers, "Many there be and wide apart; for

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 6i

some are of the kin of the iEsir, and some are of Elfin
kin, and some there are who are daughters of Dvalin."

Said Sigurd, " How namest thou the holm whereon Surt*
and the -^sir mix and mingle the water of the sword ? "

"Unshapen is that holm hight," said Fafnir.

And yet again he said, " Regin, my brother, has brought
about my end, and it gladdens my heart that thine too he
bringeth about; for thus will things be according to his
wiU."

And once again he spake, '' A countenance of terror I
bore up before all folk, after that I brooded over the
heritage of my brother, and on every side did I spout out
poison, so that none durst come anigh me, and of no
weapon was I adrad, nor ever had I so many men before
me, as that I deemed myself not stronger than all; for all
men were sore afeard of me.*'

Sigurd answered and said, **Few may have victory by
means of that same countenance of terror, for whoso
comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man
is by so ^ the mightiest of all."

Then says Fafnir, " Such counsel I give thee, that thou
take thy horse and ride away at thy speediest, for ofttimes
it falls out so, that he who gets a death-wound avenges
himself none the less."

Sigurd answered, "Such as thy redes are I will nowise
do after them ; nay, I will ride now to thy lair and take to
me that great treasure of thy kin."

•' Ride there then," said Fafnir, "and thou shalt find gold
enow to suffice thee for all thy life-days ; yet shall that gold
be thy bane, and the bane of every one soever who owns
it"

* Surt ; a fire-giant, who will destroy the world at the Ragnarok, or
destruction of all things. iEsir ; the gods.

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62 THE STORY OF THE

Then up stood Sigurd, and said, " Home would I ride
and lose all that wealth, if I deemed that by the losing
thereof I should never die ; but every brave and true man
will fain have his hand on wealth till that last day ; but
thou, Fafnir, wallow in the death-pain till Death and Hell
have thee."

And therewithal Fafnir died

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 63

CHAP. XIX.

Of the Slaying of Regin^ Son ofHreidmar.

HTHEREAFTER came Regin to Sigurd, and said,
-*• "Hail, lord and master, a noble victory hast thou
won in the slaying of Fafiiir, whereas none durst heretofore
abide in the path of him ; and now shall this deed of fame
be of renown while the world stands fast."

Then stood Regin staring on the earth a long while, and
presently thereafter spake from heavy mood: "Mine own
brother hast thou slain, and scarce may I be called sackless
of the deed."

Then Sigurd took his sword Gram and dried it on the
earth, and spake to Regin —

'' Afar thou faredst when I wrought this deed and tried
this sharp sword with the hand and the might of me ; with
all the might and main of a dragon must I strive, while
thou wert laid alow in the heather-bush, wotting not if it
were earth or heaven."

Said Regin, " Long might this worm have lain in his lair,
if the sharp sword I forged with my hand had not been
good at need to thee ; had that not been, neither thou nor
any man would have prevailed against him as at this time."

Sigurd answers, "Whenas men meet foes in fight, better
•is stout heart than sharp sword."

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64 THE STORY OF THE

Then said Regin, exceeding heavily, **Thou hast
slain my brother, and scarce may I be sackless of the
deed."

Therewith Sigurd cut out the heart of the worm with the
sword called Ridil ; but Regin drank of Fafnir's blood, and
spake, " Grant me a boon, and do a thing little for thee to
do. Bear the heart to the fire, and roast it, and give me
thereof to eat**

Then Sigurd went his ways and roasted it on a rod ; and
when the blood bubbled out he laid his finger thereon to
essay it, if it were fully done ; and then he ^t his finger in
his mouth, and lo, when the heart-blood of the worm
touched his tongue, straightway he knew the voice of all
fowls, and heard withal how the wood-peckers chattered in
the brake beside him —

"There sittest thou, Sigurd, roasting Fafnir*s heart for
another, that thou shouldest eat thine ownself, and then
thou shouldest become the wisest of all men."

And another spake: "There lies Regin, minded to
beguile the man who trusts in him."

But yet again said the third, " Let him smite the head
from off him then, and be only lord of all that gold."

And once more the fourth spake and said, "Ah, the
wiser were he if he followed after that good counsel, and
rode thereafter to Fafnir's lair, and took to him that mighty
treasure that lieth there, and then rode over Hindfell,
whereas sleeps Brynhildj for there would he get great
wisdom. Ah, wise he were, if he did after your redes, and
bethought him of his own weal j for where wolfs ears are^
wolfs teeth are near^

Then cried the fifth: "Yea, yea, not so wise is he as I
deem him, if he spareth him^ whose brother he hath slain
already."

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 65

At last spake the sixth : " Handy and good rede to slay
him, and be lord of the treasure ! "

Then said Sigurd, ** The time is unborn wherein Regin
shall be my bane ; nay, rather one road shall both these
brothers fare."

And therewith he drew his sword Gram and struck oil
Regin's head.

Then heard Sigurd the wood-peckers a-singing, even as
the song says.*

For the first sang :

Bind thou, Sigurd,
The bright red rings I
Not meet it is
Many things to fear.
A fair may know I,
Fair of all the fairest
Girt about with gold,
Good for thy getting.

And the second :

Green go the ways
Toward the hall of Giuki
That the fates show forth
To those who fare thither \
There the rich king
Reareth a daughter ;
Thou shalt deal, Sigurd,
With gold for thy sweetling.

* The Songs of the Birds were inserted from Reginsmdl by the
translators.

005

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r

66 THE STORY OF THE

And the third :

A high hall is there
Reared upon Hindfell,
Without all around it
Sweeps the red flame aloft •
Wise men wrought
That wonder of halls
With the unhidden gleam
Of the glory of gold.

Then the. fourth sang

Soft on the fell

A shield-may sleepeth

The lime-trees' red plague

Playing about her :

The sleep-thorn set Odin

Into that maiden

For her choosing in war

The one he willed not.

Go, son, behold
That may under helm
Whom from battle
Vinskornir bore,
From her may not turn
The torment of sleep.
Dear offspring of kings
In the dread Noms' despite.

Then*Sigurd ate some deal of Fafnir's heart, and the
remnant he kept. Then he leapt on his horse and rode

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS, 67

along the trail of the worm Fafnir, and so right unto his
abiding-place; and he found it open, and beheld all the
doors and the gear of them that they were wrought of
iron : yea, and all the beams of the house ; and it was dug
down deep into the earth : there found Sigurd gold
exceeding plenteous, and the sword Rotti ; and thence he
took the Helm of Awe, and the Gold Bymy, and many
things fair and good. So much gold he found there, that
he thought verily that scarce might two horses, or three
belike, bear it thence. So he took all the gold and laid it
in two great chests, and set them on the horse Grani, and
took the reins of him, but nowise will he stir, neither will
he abide smiting. Then Sigurd knows the mind of
the horse, and leaps on the back of him, and smites and
spurs into him, and off the horse goes even as if he were
unladen.

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68 THE STORY OF THE

CHAR XX.
Of Sigurd'* s Meeting with Brynhild on the Mountain,

TI)y long roads rides Sigurd, till he comes at the last
^ up on to Hindfell, and wends his way south to the
land of the Franks; and he sees before him on the fell
a great lights as of fire burning, and flaming up even
unto the heavens ; and when he came thereto, lo, a shield-
hung castle before him, and a banner on the topmost
thereof: into the castle went Sigurd, and saw one Ipng
there asleep, and all-armed. Therewith he takes the
helm from off the head of him, and sees that it is no
man, but a woman; and she was clad in a bymy as
closely set on her as though it had grown to her flesh;
so he rent it from the collar downwards; and then the
sleeves thereof and ever the sword bit on it as if it were
cloth. Then said Sigurd that over-long had she lain
asleep ; but she asked —

** What thing of great might is it that has prevailed to
rend my bjrmy, and draw me from my sleep ?"

Even as sings the song* —

* The stanzas on the two following pages were inserted here from
Sigdrifasmdl by the translators.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 69

What bit on the bymy,
Why breaks my sleep away,
Who has turned from me
My wan tormenting?

"Ah, is it so^ that here is come Sigurd Sigmundson,
bearing Fafhir's helm on his head and Fafnir's bane in
his hand ? ''

Then answered Sigurd —

"Sigmund's son
With Sigurd's sword
E'en now rent down
The raven's wall.

•* Of the Volsung's kin is he who has done the deed ;
but now I have heard that thou art daughter of a mighty
king, and folk have told us that thou wert lovely and
full of lore, and now I wXL try the same."

Then Brynhild sang —

" Long have I slept

And slumbered long.
Many and long are the woes of mankind,

By the might of Odin

Must I bide helpless
To shake from off me the spells of slumber.

Hail to the day come back !

Hail, sons of the daylight I
Hail to thee, dark night, and thy daughter 1

Look with kind eyes a-down,

On us sitting* here lonely.
And give unto us the gain that we long for.

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70 THE STORY OF THE

Hafl to the .£sii;

And tbe sweet Asyninr !*
Hail to the £sur eardi fulfilled of ploity !

Fair words, wise hearts,

Would we win frcHn yoo.
And healing hands while life we hold."

Then Brynhfld speaks again and says^ ^Two kings
fought, one hight Helm Gunnar, an old man, and the
greatest of warriors, and Odin had promised the victory
unto him ; but his foe was Agnar, or Audi's brother :
and so I smote down Helm Gunnar in the fight ; and
Odin, in vengeance for that deed, stuck the sleep-thorn
into me, and said that I should never again have the
victory, but should be given away in marriage ; but there-
against I vowed a vow, that never would I wed one who
knew the name of fear."

Then said Sigurd, "Teach us the lore of mighty
matters!"

She said, "Belike thou cannest more skill in all than
I ; yet will I teach thee ; yea, and with thanks, if there
be aught of my cunning that will in anywise pleasure
thee, either of runes or of other matters that are the root
of things ; but now let us drink together, and may the
Gods give to us twain a good day, that thou mayst win
good help and fame from my wisdom, and that thou
mayst hereafter mind thee of that which we twain speak
together."

Then Brynhild filled a beaker and bore it to Sigurd, and
gave him the drink of love, and spake — . •

* Goddesses.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLVNGS. 71

" Beer bring I to thee,
Fair fruit of the byrnies' clash,
Mixed is it mightily,
Mingled with fame.
Brimming with bright lays
And pitiful runes.
Wise words, sweet words,
Speech of great game.

Runes of war know thou,

If great thou wilt be !
Cut them on hilt of hardened sword.

Some on the brand's back.

Some on its shining side.
Twice name Tyr therein.

Sea-runes good at need,

Learnt for ship's saving.
For the good health of the swimming horse ;

On the stem cut them,

Cut them on the rudder-blade
And set flame to shaven oar :

Howso big be the sea-hills,

Howso blue beneath,
Hail from the main then comest thou home.

Word-runes learn well
If thou wilt that no man
Pay back grief for the grief thou gavest ;
Wind thou these.
Weave thou these.

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72 THE STORY OF THE

Cast thou these all about thee,

At the Thing,

Where folk throng,
Unto the full doom faring.

Of ale-runes know the wisdom

If thou wilt that another's wife
Should not bewray thine heart that trusteth :

Cut them on the mead-horn,

On the back of each hand,
And nick an N upon thy naiL

Ale have thou heed

To sign from all harm
Leek lay thou in the liquor,

Then I know for sure

Never cometh to thee.
Mead with hurtful matters mingled.

Help-runes shalt thou gather

If skill thou wouldst gain
To loosen child from low-laid mother;

Cut be they in hands hollow,

Wrapped the joints round about 3
Call for the Good-folks' gainsome helping.

Learn the bough-runes wisdom

If leech-lore thou lovest ;
And wilt wot about wounds' searching

On the bark be they scored ;

On the buds of trees
Whose boughs look eastward ever.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS, 73

Thought-runes shalt thou deal with

If thou wilt be of all men
Fairest-souled wight, and wisest,

These areded

These first cut
These first took to heart high Hropt.

On the shield were they scored

That stands before the shining God,

On Early-waking's ear.

On All-knowing's hoof,

On the wheel which runneth

Under Rognir's chariot ;

On Sleipnir's jaw-teeth,

On the sleigh's traces.

On the rough bear's paws,
And on Bragi's tongue,
On the wolfs claws,
And on eagle's bill.
On bloody wi^igs.
And bridge's end ;
On loosing palms,
And pity's path :

On glass, and on gold,

And on goodly silver.

In wine and in wort,

And the seat of the witch-wife ;

On Gungnir's point,

And Grani's bosom j

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74 THE STORY OF THE

On the Norn's nail,

And the neb of the night-owL

All these so cut,

Were shaven and sheared,

And mingled in with holy mead,

And sent upon wide ways enow ;
Some abide with the Elves,
Some abide with the -^sir,

Or with the wise Vanir,

Some still hold the sons of mankind.

These be the book-runes.
And the runes of good help,
And all the ale-runes,
And the runes of much might ;
To whomso they may avail,
Unbewildered unspoilt ;
They are wholesome to have :
Thrive thou with these then.
When thou hast learnt their lore.
Till the Gods end thy life-days.

Now shalt thou choose thee

E'en as choice is bidden.
Sharp steel's root and stem,

Choose song or silence ;

See to each in thy heart,
All hurt has been heeded."

Then answered Sigurd —

" Ne'er shall I flee.
Though thou wottest me fey ;

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VOLSVNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 75

Never was I born for blenching,
Thy loved rede will I

Hold aright in my heart
Even as long as I may live."

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76 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXL

More Wise Words of Brynhild,

O IGURD spake now, " Sure no wiser woman than thou
"^ art one may be found in the wide world; yea, yea,
teach me more yet of thy wisdom ! "

She answers, ** Seemly is it that I do according to thy
will, and show thee forth more redes of great avail, for thy
prayer's sake and thy wisdom ; '* and she spake withal —

"Be kindly to friend and kin, and reward not their
trespasses against thee ; bear and forbear, and win for thee
thereby long enduring praise ot men.

" Take good heed of evil things : a may's love, and a
man's wife ; full oft thereof doth ill befall I

** Let not thy mind be overmuch crossed by unwise men
at thronged meetings of folk ; for oft these speak worse than
they wot of; lest thou be called a dastard, and art minded
to think that thou art even as is said ; slay such an. one on
another day, and so reward his ugly talk.

" If thou farest by the way whereas bide evil things, be
well ware of thyself; take not harbour near the highway,
though thou be benighted, for oft abide there ill wights foi
men's bewilderment.

" Let not fair women beguile thee, such as thou mayst
meet at the feast, so that the thought thereof stand thee in

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 77

stead of sleep, and a quiet mind ; yea, draw them not to
thee with kisses or other sweet things of love.

"If thou hearest the fool's word of a drunken man,
strive not with him being drunk with drink and witless;
many a grief, yea, and the very death, groweth from out
such things,

** Fight thy foes in the field, nor be burnt in thine
house.

" Never swear thou wrongsome oath ; great and grim is
the reward for the breaking of plighted troth.

" Give kind heed to dead men, — sick-dead, sea-dead, or
sword-dead ; deal heedfuUy with their dead corpses.

** Trow never in him for whom thou hast slain father,
brother, or whatso near kin, yea, though young he be;
for oft waxes wolf in youngling,

" Look thou with good heed to the wiles of thy friends ;
but little skill is given to me, that I should foresee the
ways of thy life ; yet good it were that hate fell not on thee
from those of thy wife's house."

Sigurd spake, "None among the sons or men can be
found wiser than thou ; and thereby swear I, that thee will
I have as my own, for near to my heart thou liest"

She answers, "Thee would I fainest choose, though I
had all men's sons to choose from."

And thereto they plighted troth both of them.

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78 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXII.
Of the Semblance and Array of Sigurd Fafnir^s-Bane*

TVr OW Sigurd rides away ; many-folded is his shield, and
^ ^ blazing with red gold, and the image of a dragon is
drawn thereon ; and this same was dark brown above, and
bright red below; and with even such-like image was
adorned helm, and saddle, and coat-armour; and he was
clad in the golden bymy, and all his weapons were gold-
wrought.

Now for this cause was the drake drawn on all his
weapons, that when he was seen of men, all folk might
know who went there ; yea, all those who had heard of his
slaying of that great dragon, tliat the Veerings call Fafnir ;
and for that cause are his weapons gold-wrought, and brown
of hue, and that he was by far above other men in courtesy
and goodly manners, and well-nigh in all things else ; and
whenas folk tell of all the mightiest champions, and the
noblest chiefs, then ever is he named the foremost, and his
name goes wide about on all tongues north of the sea of
the Greek-lands, and even so shall it be while the world
endures.

Now the hair of this Sigurd was golden-red of hue, fair of

* This chapter is nearly literally the same as chapter i66 of the
Wilkinasaga; Ed. : Perinskiold, Stockholm, 1715.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 79

fashion, and falling down in great locks; thick and short
was his beard, and of no other colour ; high-nosed he was,
broad and high-boned of face ; so keen were his eyes, that
few durst gaze up under the brows of him ; his shoulders
were as broad to look on as the shoulders of two;
most duly was his body fashioned betwixt height and
breadth, and in such wise as was scJemliest; and this is
the sign told of his height, that when he was girt with his
sword Gram, which same was seven spans long, as he went
through the full-grown rye-fields, the dew-shoe of the said
sword smote the ears of the standing com ; and, for all that,
greater was his strength than his growth : well could he
wield sword, and cast forth spear, shoot shaft, and hold
shield, bend bow, back horse, and do all the goodly deeds
that he learned in his youth's days.

Wise he was to know things yet undone ; and the voice
of all fowls he knew, wherefore few things fell on him
unawares.

Of many words he was, and so fair of speech withal, that
whensoever he made it his business to speak, he never left
speaking before that to all men it seemed full sure, that no
otherwise must the matter be than as he said.

His sport and pleasure it was to give aid to his own folk,
and to prove himself in mighty matters, to take wealth from
his unfriends, and give the same to his friends.

Never did he lose heart, and of naught was he adrad.

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8o THE STORY OB THE

CHAP. XXIII.

Sigurd comes to Hlymdah.

T7ORTH Sigurd rides till he comes to a great and goodly
■^ dwelling, the lord whereof was a mighty chief called
Heimir ; he had to wife a sister of Brynhild, who was hight
Bekkhild, because she had bidden at home, and learned
handicraft, whereas Brynhild fared with helm and bymy
unto the wars, wherefore was she called Brynhild.

Heimir and Bekkhild had a son called Alswid, the most
courteous of men.

Now at this stead were men disporting them abroad, but
when they see the man riding thereto, they leave their play
to wonder at him, for none such had they ever seen erst ;
so they went to meet him, and gave him good welcome ;
Alswid bade him abide and have such things at his hands
as he would ; and he takes his bidding blithesomely ; due
service withal was established for him \ four men bore the
treasure of gold from off the horse, and the fifth took it
to him to guard the same; therein were many things to
behold, things of great price, and seldom seen ; and great
game and joy men had to look on b3rmies and helms, and
mighty rings, and wondrous great golden stoups, and aU
kinds of war weapons.

So there dwelt Sigurd long in great honour holden ; Smd

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 8i

tidings of that deed of fame spread wide through all lands,
of how he had slain that hideous and fearful dragon. So
good joyance had they there together, and each was leal to
other ; and their sport was in the arraying of their weapons,
and the shafting of their arrows, and the flying c^ their
falcons.

006

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82 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXIV.

Sigurd sees Brynhild at Hlymdale,

T N those days came home to Heimir, Brynhild, his foster-
■^ daughter, and she sat in her bower with her maidens,
and could more skill in handycraft than other women;
she sat, overlaying cloth with gold, and sewing therein the
great deeds which Sigurd had wrought, the slaying of the
Worm, and the taking of the wealth of him, and the death
of Regin withal.

Now tells the tale, that on a day Sigurd rode into the
wood with hawk, and hound, and men thronging; and
whenas he came home his hawk flew up to a high tower,
and sat him down on a certain window. Then fared Sigurd
after his hawk, and he saw where sat a fair woman, and
knew that it was Brynhild, and he deems all things he sees
there to be worthy together, both her fairness, and the fair
things she wrought : and therewith he goes into the hall,
but has no more joyance in the games of the men folk.

Then spake Alswid, "Why art thou so bare of bliss?
this manner of thine grieveth us thy friends ; why then wilt
thou not hold to thy gleesome ways ? Lo, thy hawks pine
now, and thy horse Grani droops ; and long will it be ere
we are booted thereof? "

Sigurd answered, **Good friend, hearken to what lies

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 83

on my mind ; for my hawk flew up into a certain tower ;
and when I came thereto and took him, lo there I saw a
fair woman, and she sat by a needlework of gold, and did
thereon my deeds that are passed, and my deeds that are
to come."

Then said Alswid, "Thou hast seen Brynhild, BudH's
daughter, the greatest of great women."

"Yea, verily,** said Sigurd; "but how came she
hither?**

Alswid answered, "Short space there was betwixt the
coming hither of the twain of you.**

Says Sigurd, " Yea, but a few days agone I knew her for
the best of the world's women.**

Alswid said, ** Give not all thine heed to one woman,
being such a man as thou art ; ill life to sit lamenting for
what we may not have.**

"I shall go meet her,** says Sigurd, "and get from
her love like my love, and give her a gold ring in token
thereof.*'

Alswid answered, "None has ever yet been known whom
she would let sit beside her, or to whom she would give
drink ; for ever will she hold to warfare and to the winning
of all kinds of fame.*'

Sigurd said, " We know not for sure whether she will give
us answer or not, or grant us a seat beside her.**

So the next day after, Sigurd went to the bower, but
Alswid stood outside the bower door, fitting shafts to his
arrows.

Now Sigurd spake, "Abide, fair and hale lady, — ^how
farestthou?**

She answered, " Well it fares ; my kin and my firiends
live yet : but who shall say what goodhap folk may bear to
theu- life's end?"

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84 THE STORY OF THE

He sat him down by her, and there came in four damsels
with great golden beakers, and the best of wine therein;
and these stood before the twain.

Then said Brynhild, " This seat is for few, but and if my
father come."

He answered, " Yet is it granted to one that likes me
well."

Now that chamber was hung with the best and fairest
of hangings, and the floor thereof was all covered with
cloth.

Sigurd spake, " Now has it come to pass even as thou
didst promise."

" O be thou welcome here ! " said she, and arose there-
with, and the four damsels with her, and bore the golden
beaker to him, and bade him drink ; he stretched out his
hand to the beaker, and' took it, and her hand withal, and
drew her down beside him ; and cast his arms round about
her neck and kissed her, and said —

" Thou art the fairest that was ever bom ! '*

But Brynhil3 said, '* Ah, wiser is it not to cast faith and
troth into a woman's power, for ever shall they break that
they have promised.'*

He said, " That day would dawn the best of da3rs over
our heads whereon each of each should be made happy.**

Brynhild answered, " It is not fated that we should abide
together ; I am a shield-may, and wear helm on head even
as the kings of war, and them full oft I help, neither is the
battle become loathsome to me."

Sigurd answered, "What fruit shall be of our life, if we
live not together : harder to bear this pain that lies
hereunder, than the stroke of sharp sword."

Br3mhild answers, '* I shall gaze on the hosts of the war-
kings, but thou shalt wed Gudrun, the daughter of Giuki."

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 85

Sigurd answered, "What king's daughier lives to beguile
me ? neither am I double-hearted herein ; and now I swear
by the Gods, that thee shall I have for mine own, or no
woman else."

And even suchlike wise spake she.

Sigurd thanked her for her speech, and gave her a gold
ring, and now they swore oath anew, and so he went his
ways to his men, and is with them awhile in great bliss.

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86 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXV.

Of the Dream of Gudrun^ Giuk^s daughter,

nPHERE was a king hight Giuki, who ruled a realm
■*• south of the Rhine ; three sons he had, thus
named: Gunnar, Hogni, and Guttorm, and Gudrun was
the name of his daughter, the fairest of maidens ; and all
these children were far before all other king's children in
all prowess, and in goodliness and growth withal ; ever were
his sons at the wars and wrought many a deed of fame.
But Giuki had wedded Grimhild the Wise-wife.

Now Budli was the name of a king mightier than Giuki,
mighty though they both were : and Atli was the brother
of Brynhild: Atli was a fierce man and a grim, great
and black to look on, yet noble of mien withal, and the
greatest of warriors. Grimhild was a fierce-hearted
womaa

Now the days of the Giukings bloomed fair, and chiefly
because of those children, so far before the sons of men.

On a day Gudrun says to her mays that she may have no
joy of heart ; then a certain woman asked her wherefore
her joy was departed.

She answered, " Grief came to me in my dreams, there-
fore is there sorrow in my heart, since thou must needs ask
thereof."

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 87

"Tell it me, then, thy dream," said the woman, *^for
dreams oft forecast but the weather."

Gudrun answers, **Nay, nay, no weather is this; I
dreamed that I had a fair hawk on my wrist, feathered with
feathers of gold."

Says the woman, " Many have heard tell of thy beauty,
thy wisdom, and thy courtesy ; some king's son abides theei
then."

Gudrun answers, " I dreamed that naught was so dear
to me as this hawk, and all my wealth had I cast aside
rather than him."

The woman said, "Well, then, the man thou shalt
have will be of the goodliest, .and well shalt thou love
him."

Gudrun answered, " It grieves me that I know not who
he shall be ; let us go seek Brynhild, for she belike will wot
thereof."

So they arrayed them in gold and many a fair thing, and
she went with her damsels till they came to the hall of
Br)mhild, and that hall was dight with gold, and stood on a
high hill ; and whenas their goings were seen, it was told
Brynhild, that a company of women drove toward the burg
in gilded waggons.

" That shall be Gudrun, Giuki's daughter," says she :
'*I dreamed of her last night; let us go meet her! no
fairer woman may come to our house."

So they went abroad to meet them, and gave them good
greeting, and they went into the goodly hall together;
fairly painted it was within, and well adorned with silver
vessel ; cloths were spread under the feet of them, and all
folk served them, and in many wise they sported.

But Gudrun was somewhat silent.

Then said Brynhild, " 111 to abash folk of their ipirth j

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88 THE STORY OF THE

prithee do not so ; let us talk together for our disport of
mighty kings and their great deeds."

"Good talk," says Gudrun, **let us do even so; what
kings deemest thou to have been the first of all men ? "

Brynhild says, "The sons of Haki, and Hagbard
withal ; they brought to pass many a deed of fame in their
warfare."

Gudrun answers, "Great men certes, and of noble
famel Yet Sigar took their one sister, and burned the
other, house and all; and th^y may be called slow to
revenge the deed ; why didst thou not name my brethren,
who are held to be the first of men as at this time ? "

Br3mhild says, "Men of good hope are they surely,
though but little proven hitherto; but one I know far
before them, Sigurd, the son of Sigmund the king; a
youngling was he in the days when he slew the sons of
Hunding, and revenged his father, and EyUmi, his mother's
father.''

Said Gudrun, "By what token tellest thou that?"

Brynhild answered, "His mother went amid the dead,
and found Sigmund the king sore wounded, and would
bind up his hurts ; but he said he grew over old for war,
and bade her lay this comfort to her heart, that she should
bear the most famed of sons; and wise was the wise
mean's word therein : for after the death of King Sigmund,
she went to King Alf, and there was Sigurd nourished
in great honour, and day by day he wrought some deed
of fame, and is the man most renowned of all the wide
world."

Gudrun says, " From love hast thou gained these tidings
of him ; but for this cause came I here, to tell thee dreams
of mine which have brought me great grief."

Says Brynhild, " Let not such matters sadden thee ;

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VOLSUNGS AI^D NIB LUNGS 89

abide with thy friends who wish thee blithesome, all of
them ! "

" This I dreamed," said Gudnin, " that we went, a many
of us in company, from the bower, and we saw an exceed-
ing great hart, that far excelled all other deer ever seen,
and the hair of him was golden ; and this deer we were all
fain to take, but I alone got him ; and he seemed to me
better than all things else; but sithence thou, Byrnhild,
didst shoot and slay my deer even at my very knees, and
such grief was that to me that scarce might I bear it ;
and then afterwards thou gavest me a wolf-cub, which
besprinkled me with the blood of my brethren."

Brynhild answers, "I will arede thy dream, even as
things shall come to pass hereafter ; for Sigurd shall come
to thee, even he whom I have chosen for my well-beloved \
and Grimhild shall give him mead mingled with hurtful
things, which shall cast us all into mighty strife. Him
shalt thou have, and him shalt thou quickly miss ; and Atli
the king shalt thou wed ; and thy brethren shalt thou lose,
and slay Atli withal in the end."

Gudrun answers, "Grief and woe to know that such
things shall be ! "

And therewith she and hers get them gone home to
King Giuki^

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90 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXVI.

Sigurd comes fo the Giukings and is wedded to Gudrun,

IVr OW Sigurd goes his ways with all that great treasure,
and in friendly wise he departs from them ; and on
Grani he rides with all his war-gear and the burden withal ;
and thus he rides until he comes to the hall of King Giuki ;
there he rides into the burg, and that sees one of the king's
men, and he spake withal—

" Sure it may be deemed that here is come one of the
Gods, for his array is all done with gold, and his horse is
far mightier than other horses, and the manner of his
weapons is most exceeding goodly, and most of all the man
himself far excels all other men ever seen.'*

So the king goes out with, his court and greets the man,
and asks —

** Who art thou who thus ridest into my burg, as none
has durst hitherto without the leave of my sons ? "

He answered, "I am called Sigurd, son of King
Sigmund."

Then said King Giuki, "Be thou welcome here then,
and take at our hands whatso thou wiliest."

So he went into the king's hall, and all men seemed little
beside him, and all men served him, and there he abode in
great jbyance.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 91

Now oft they all ride abroad together, Sigurd and
Gunnar and Hogni, and ever is Sigurd far the foremost of
them, mighty men of their hands though they were.

But Grimhild finds how heartily Sigurd loved Brynhild,
and how oft he talks of her ; and she falls to thinking how
well it were, if he might abide there and wed the daughter
of King Giuki, for she saw that none might come anigh to
his goodliness, and what faith and goodhelp there was in
him, and how that he had more wealth withal than folk
might tell of any man ; and the king did to him even as
unto his own sons, and they for their parts held him of
more worth than themselves.

So on a night as they sat at the drink, the queen arose,
and went before Sigurd, and said —

" Great joy we have in thine abiding here, and all good
things will we put before thee to take of us ; lo now, take
this horn and drink thereof."

So he took it and drank, and therewithal she said, "Thy
father shall be Giuki the king, and I shall be thy mother,
and Gunnar and Hogni shall be thy brethren, and all this
shall be sworn with oaths each to each ; and then surely
shall the like of you never be found on earth."

Sigurd took her speech well, for with the drinking of that
drink all memory of Brynhild departed from him. So there
he abode awhile.

And on a day went Grimhild to Giuki the king, and cast
her arms about his neck, and spake —

" Behold, there has now come to us the greatest of great
hearts that the world holds ; and noeds must he be trusty
and of great avail; give him thy daughter then, with
plenteous wealth, and as much of rule as he will ; perchance
thereby he will be well content to abide here ever."

The king answered, "Seldom does it befall that kings

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92 THE STORY OF THE

offer their daughters to any ; yet in higher wise will it be
done to offer her to this man, than to take lowly prayers for
her from others."

On a night Gudrun pours out the drink, and Sigurd
beholds her how fair she is and how full of all courtesy.

Five seasons Sigurd abode there, and ever they passed
their days together in good honour and friendship.

And so it befell that the kings held talk together, and
Giuki said —

** Great good thou givest us, Sigurd, and with exceeding
strength thou strengthenest our realm."

Then Gunnar said, " All things that may be will we do
for thee, so thou abidest here long ; both dominion shalt
thou have, and our sister freely and unprayed for, whom
another man would not get for all his prayers."

Sigurd says, ''Thanks have ye for this wherewith ye
honour me, and gladly will I take the same."

Therewith they swore brotherhood together, and to be
even as if they were children of one father and one mother;
and a noble feast was holden, and endured many days, and
Sigurd drank at the wedding of him and Gudrun; and
there might men behold all manner of game and glee, and
each day the feast better and better.

Now fare these folk wide over the world, and do many
great deeds, and slay many kings' sons, and no man has
ever done such works of prowess as did they ; then home
they come again with much wealth won in war.

Sigurd gave of the serpent's heart to Gudrun, and she ate
thereof, and became greater-hearted, and wiser than ere
before : and the son of these twain was called Sigmund.

Now on a time went Grimhild to Gunnar her son, and

ke—

* Fair blooms the life and fortune of thee, but for one

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 93

thing only, and namely whereas thou art unwedded; gpwoo
Brynhild; good rede is this, and Sigurd will ride with
thee."

Gunnar answered, **Fair is she certes, and I am fain
enow to win her ; " and therewith he tells his father, and
his brethren, and Sigurd, and they all prick him on to that
wooing.

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94 THE STORY OF THE

N'

CHAP. XXVIL

The Wooing of Brynhild.

[OW they array them joyously for their journey, and
ride over hUl and dale to the house of King Budli,
and woo his daughter of him ; in a good wise he took their
speech, if so be that she herself would not deny them ; but
he said withal that so high-minded was she, that that man
only might wed her whom she would.

Then they ride to Hlymdale, and there Heimir gave
them good welcome ; so Gunnar tells his errand ; Heimir
says, that she must needs wed but him whom she herself
chose freely ; and tells them how her abode was but a little
way thence, and that he deemed that him only would she
have who should ride through the flaming fire that was
drawn round about her hall ; so they depart and come to
the hall and the Are, and see there a" castle with a golden
roof-ridge, and all round about a Are roaring up.

Now Gunnar rode on Goti, but Hogni on Holkvi, and
Gunnar smote his horse to face the nre, but he shrank
aback.

Then said Sigurd, ** Why givest thou back, Gunnar ? "

He answered, " The horse will not tread this fire ; but
lend me thy horse GranL"

** Yea, with all my good will," says Sigurd.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 95

Then Gunnar rides him at the fire, and yet nowise will
Grani stir, nor may Gunnar any the more ride through that
fire. So now they change semblance, Gunnar and Sigurd,
even as Grimhild had taught them; then Sigurd in the
likeness of Gunnar mounts and rides. Gram in his hand,
and golden spurs on his heels ; then leapt Grani into the
fire when he felt the spurs ; and a mighty roar arose as the
fire burned ever madder, and the earth trembled, and the
flames went up even unto the heavens, nor had any dared
to ride as he rode, even as it were through the deep mirk.

But now the fire sank withal, and he leapt from his horse
and went into the hall, even as the song says —

The flame flared at its maddest,
Earth's fields fell a-quaking
As the red flame aloft
Licked the lowest of heaven.
Few had been fain,
Of the rulers of folk,
To ride through that flame^
Or athwart it to tread.

Then Sigurd smote
Grani with sword.
And the flame was slaked
Before the king;
Low lay the flames
Before the fain of fame ;
Bright gleamed the array
That Regin erst owned.

Now when Sigurd had passed through the fire, he came
into a certain fair dwelling, and therein sat Brynhild.

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96 THE STORY OF THE

She asked, " What man is it ? "

Then he named himself Gunnar, son of Giuki, and said
— ** Thou art awarded to me as my wife, by the good-will
and word of thy father and thy foster-father, and I have
ridden through the flames of thy fire, according to thy word
that thou hast set forth."

**I wot not clearly," said she, **how I shall answer thee."

Now Sigurd stood upright on the hall floor, and leaned
on the hilt of his sword, and he spake to Brynhild —

**In reward thereof, shall I pay thee a great dower in
gold and goodly things ? "

She answered in heavy mood from her seat, whereas she
sat like unto swan on billow, having a sword in her hand,
and a helm on her head, and being clad in a byrny, " O
Gunnar," she says, "speak not to me of such things;
unless thou be the first and best of all men ; for then shalt
thou slay those my wooers, if thou hast heart thereto; I
have been in battles with the king of the Greeks, and our
weapons were stained with red blood, and for such things
still I yearn."

He answered, "Yea, certes many great deeds hast thou
done ; but yet call thou to mind thine oath, concerning the
riding through of this fire, wherein thou didst swear
that thou wouldst go with the man who should do this
deed."

So she found that he spake but the sooth, and she paid
heed to his words, and arose, and greeted him meetly, and
he abode there three nights, and they lay in one bed
together ; but he took the sword Gram and laid it betwixt
them : then she asked him why he laid it there ; and he
answered, that in that wise must he needs wed his wife or
else get his bane.

Then she took from off her the ring Andvari's-loom,

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 97

which he had given her aforetime, and gave it to him, but
he gave her another ring out of Fafnir's hoard

Thereafter he rode away through the same fire unto his
fellows, and he and Gunnar changed semblances again, and
rode unto Hlymdale, and told how it had gone with them.

That same day went Brynhild home to her foster-father,
and tells him as one whom she trusted, how that there
had come a king to her; "And he rode through my
flaming fire, and said he was come to woo me, and named
himself Gunnar; but I said that such a deed might Sigurd
alone have done, with whom I plighted troth on the
mountain ; and he is my first troth-plight, and my well-
beloved."

Heimir said that things must needs abide even as now
they had now come to pass.

Brynhild. said, "Aslaugthe daughter of me and Sigurd
shall be nourished here with thee."

Now the kings fare home, but Brynhild goes to her
father; Grimhild welcomes the kings meetly, and thanks
Sigurd for his fellowship ; and withal is a great feast made,
and many were the guests thereat ; and thither came Budli
the King with his daughter Brynhild, and his son Adi, and
for many dajrs'did the feast endure : and at that feast was
Gunnar wedded to Brynhild : but when it was brought to
an end, once more has Sigurd memory of all the oaths that
he sware unto Brjmhild, yet withal he let all things abide
in rest and peace."

Brynhild and Gunnar sat together in great game and
glee, and drank goodly wine.

007

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9$ THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXVIII.

How the Queens held angry converse together at the Bathing.

/^N. a day as the Queens went to the river to bathe
^-^ them, Brynhild waded the farthest out into the
river ; then asked Gudrun what that deed might signify.

Brynhild said, " Yea, and why then should I be equal to
thee in this matter more than in others ? I am minded to
think that my father is mightier than thine, and my true-
love has wrought many wondrous works of fame, and hath
ridden the flaming fire withal, while thy husband was but
the thrall of King Hjalprek,"

Gudrun answered full of wrath, **Thou wouldst be wise
if thou shouldst hold thy peace rather than revile my
husband : lo now, the talk of all men it is, that none has
ever abode in this world like unto him in all matters
soever ; and little it beseems thee of all folk to mock him
who was thy first beloved : and Fafnir he slew, yea, and he
rode thy flaming fire, whereas thou didst deem that he was
Gunnar the King, and by thy side he lay, and took from
thine hand the ring Andvari*s-loom ; — ^here mayst thou well
behold it!"

Then Brynhild saw the ring and knew it, and waxed as
wan as a dead woman, and she went home and spake no
word the evening long.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS, 99

So when Sigurd came to bed to Gudrun she asked him
why Brynhild's joy was so departed.

He answered, "I know not, but sore I misdoubt me
that soon we shall know thereof over well"

Gudrun said, "Why may she not love her life, having
wealth and bliss, and the praise of all men, and the man
withal that she would have?"

"Ah, yea!" said Sigurd, "and where in all the world
was she then, when she said that she deemed she had the
noblest of all men, and the dearest to her heart of all ? *'

Gudrun answers, "Tomom will I ask her concerning
this, who is the liefest to her of all men for a husband."

Sigurd said, "Needs must I forbid thee this, and full
surely wilt thou rue the deed if thou doest it."

Now the next morning they sat in the bower, and
Brynhild was silent ; then spake Gudrun —

"Be merry, Brynhild I Grievest thou because of that
speech of ours together, or what other thing slayeth thy
bliss?"

Brynhild answers, "With naught but evil intent thou
sayest this, for a cruel heart thou hast**

**Say not so," said Gudrun; "but rather tell me all
the tale."

Brynhild answers, "Ask such things only as are good
for thee to know — matters meet for mighty dames. Good
to love good things when all goes according to thy heart's
desire ! "

Gudrun says, "Early days for me to glory in that;
but this word of thine looketh toward some foreseeing.
What ill dost thou thrust at us? I did naught to grieve
thee.**

Brynhild answers, " For this shalt thou pay, in that thou
hast got Sigurd to thee, — nowise can I see thee living in

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loo THE STORY OF THE "^

the bliss thereof, whereas thou hast him, and the wealth
and the might of him."

But Gudrun answered, " Naught knew I of your words
and vows together ; and well might my father look to the
mating of me without dealing with thee first"

"No secret speech had we," quoth Brynhild, ** though
we swore oath together ; and full well didst thou know that
thou wentest about to beguile me; verily thou shalt have
thy reward ! "

Says Gudrun, " Thou art mated better than thou art
worthy of; but thy pride and rage shall be hard to slake
belike, and therefor shall many a man pay."

"Ah, I should be well content," said Brynhild, "if thou
hadst not the nobler man ! "

Gudrun answers, "So noble a husband hast thou, that
who knows of a greater king or a lord of more wealth and
might?"

Says Brynhild, " Sigurd slew Fafnir, and that only deed
is of more worth than all the might of King Gunnar."

(Even as the song says) :

The worm Sigurd slew.
Nor ere shall that deed
Be worsened by age
While the world is alive :
But thy brother the King
Never durst, never bore
The flame to ride down
Through the fire to fare.

Gudrun answers, " Grani would not abide the fire under
Gunnar the King, but Sigurd durst the deed, and thy heart
mav well abide without mocking him."

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Brynhijd answers, " Nowise will I hide from thee that I
deem no good of Grimhild."

Says Gudrun, " Nay, lay no ill words on her, for in all
things she is to thee as to her own daughter. '^

"Ah," says Brynhild, "she is the beginning of all this
bale that biteth so; an evil drink she bare to Sigurd, so
that he had no more memory of my very name."

" All wrong thou talkest ; a lie without measure is this,"
quoth Gudrun.

Brynhild answered, "Have thou joy of Sigurd according
to the measure of the wiles wherewith ye have beguiled me I
unworthily have ye conspired against me ; may all things go
with you as my heart hopes ! "

Gudrun says, " More joy shall I have of him than thy
wish would give unto me : but to no man's mind it came,
that he had aforetime his pleasure of me ; nay not once."

** Evil speech thou speakest," says Brynhild ; " when thy
wrath runs oif thou wilt rue it ; but come now, let us no
more cast angry words one at the other ! "

Says Gudrun, " Thou wert the first to cast such words at
me, and now thou makest as if thou wouldst amend it, but
a cruel and hard heart abides behind."

" Let us lay aside vain babble," says Brynhild. " Long
did I hold my peace concerning my sorrow of heart, and, lo
now, thy brother alone do I love ; let us fall to other talk."

Gudrun said, "Far beyond all this doth thine heart
look."

And so ugly ill befell from that going to the river,
and that knowing of the ring, wherefrom did all their talk
arise.

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102 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXIX.

Of Brynhild^s great Grief and Mourning,

A FTER this talk Brynhild lay a-bed, and tidings were
^^ brought to King Gunnar that Brynhild was sick ; he
goes to see her thereon, and asks what ails her; but she
answered him naught, but lay there as one dead : and when
he was hard on her lor an answer, she said —

" What didst thou with that ring that I gave thee, even
the one which King Budii gave me at our last parting,
when thou and King Giuki came to him and threatened
fire and the sword, unless ye had me to wife ? Yea, at that
time he led me apart, and asked me which I had chosen oi
those who were come ; but I prayed him that I might abide
to ward the land and be chie* over the third part of his
men ; then were there two choices for me to deal betwixt,
either that I should be wedded to h m whom he would, or
lose all my weal and friendship at his hands ; and he said
withal that his friendship would be better to me than his
wrath : then I bethought me whether I should yield to his
will, or slay many a man ; and therewithal I deemed that it
would avail little to strive with him, and so it fell out, that
I promised to wed whomsoever should ride the horse Grani
with Fafnir's Hoard, and ride through my flaming fire, and
slay those men whom I called on him to slay, and now so

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it was, that none durst ride, save Sigurd only, because he
lacked no heart thereto ; yea, and the Worm he slew, and
Regin, and five kings beside ; but thou, Gunnar, durst do
naught; as pale as a dead man didst thou wax, and no
king thou art, and no champion ; so whereas I made a vow
unto my father, that him done would I love who was the
noblest man alive, and that this is none save Sigurd, lo, now
have I broken my oath and brought it to naught, since he is
none of mine, and for this cause shall I compass thy death;
and a great reward of evil things have I wherewith to
reward Grimhild ; — never, I wot, has woman lived eviler or
of lesser heart than she."

Gunnar answered in such wise that few might hear
him, "Many a vile word hast thou spoken, and an evil-
hearted woman art thou, whereas thou revilest a woman far
better than thou ; never would she curse her life as thou
dost ; nay, nor has she tormented dead folk, or murdered
any ; but lives her Hfe well praised of alL'*

Brynhild answered, ** Never have I dwelt with evil things
privily, or done loathsome deeds ; — yet most fain I am to
slay thee."

And therewith would she slay King Gunnar, but Hogni
laid her in fetters ; but then Gunnar spake withal —

" Nay, I will not that she abide in fetters."

Then said she, " Heed it not ! for never again seest thou
me glad in thine hall, never drinking, never at the chess-
play, never speaking the words of kindness, never over-
laying the fair cloths with gold, never giving thee good
counsel;— ah, my sorrow of heart that I might not get
Sigurd to me I "

Then she sat up and smote her needlework, and rent it
asunder, and bade set open her bower doors, that far away
might the wailings of her sorrow be heard; then great

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I04 THE STORY OF THE

mourning and lamentation th^re was, so that folk heard it
far and wide through that abode.

Now Gudrun asked her bower-maidens why they sat so
joyless and downcast. " What has come to you, that ye fare
ye as witless women, or what unheard-of wonders have
befallen you ? "

Then answered a waiting lady, hight Swaflod, "An
untimely, an evil day it is, and our hall is fulfilled of
lamentation."

Then spake Gudrun to one of her handmaids, "Arise,
for we have slept long ; go, wake Brynhild, and let us fall
to our needlework and be merry."

** Nay, nay,*' she says, ** nowise may I wake her, or talk
with her \ for many days has she drunk neither mead nor
wine ; surely the wrath of the Gods has fallen upon her."

Then spake Gudrun to Gunnar, " Go and see her," she
says, " and bid her know that I am grieved with her grief."

" Nay," says Gunnar, ** I am forbid to go see her or to
share her weal."

Nevertheless he went unto her, and strives in many wise
to have speech of her, but gets no answer whatsoever:
therefore he gets him gone and finds Hogni, and bids him
go see her : he said he was loth thereto, but went, and gat
no more of her.

Then they go and find Sigurd, and pray him to visit her;
he answered naught thereto, and so matters abode for that
night.

But the next day, when he came home from hunting,
Sigurd went to Gudrun, and s|)ake —

" In such wise do matters show to me, as though great
and evil things will betide from this trouble and upheaving,
and that Brynhild will surely die."

Gudrun answers, " O my lord, by great wonders is she

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 105

encompassed, seven days and seven nights has she slept,
and none has dared wake her."

"Nay, she sleeps not," said Sigurd, "her heart is dealing
rather with dreadful intent against me."

Then said Gudrun, weeping, " Woe worth the while for
thy death ! go and see her ; and wot if her fiiry may not
be abated; give her gold, and smother up her grief and
anger therewith 1 "

Then Sigurd went out, and found the door of Brynhild's
chamber opeA ; he deemed she slept, and drew the clothes
from off her, and said —

"Awake, Brynhild ! the sun shineth now over all the
house, and thou hast slept enough ; cast off grief from thee,
and take up gladness ! "

She said, **And how then hast thou dared to come to
me? in this treason none was worse to me than thou."

Said Sigurd, " Why wilt thou not speak to folk ? for what
cause sorrowest thou ? "

Brynhild answers, "Ah, to thee will I tell of my wrath 1"

Sigurd said, "As one under a spell art thou, if thou
deemest that there is aught cruel in my heart against thee ;
but thou hast him for husband whom thou didst choose."

"Ah, nay," she said, "never did Gunnar ride through
the fire to me, nor did he give me to dower the host of
the slain : I wondered at the man who came into my hall ;
for I deemed indeed that I knew thine eyes ; but I might
not see clearly, or divide the good from the evil, because of
the veil that lay heavy on my fortune."

Says Sigurd, "No nobler men are there than the sons of
Giuki, they slew the king of the Danes, and that great chief,
the brother of King Budli."

Brynhild answered, " Surely for many an ill-deed must I
reward them; mind me not of my griefs against them!

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io6 THE STORY OF THE

But ' thou, Sigurd, slewest the Worm, and rodest the fire
through ; yea, and for my sake, and not one of the sons of
King Giuki."

Sigurd answers, "I am not thy husband, and thou art
not my wife; yet did a farfaraed king pay dower to
thee."

Says Brynhild, "Never looked I at Gunnar in such a
wise that my heart smiled on him ; and hard and fell am I
to him, though I hide it from others."

"A marvellous thing," says Sigurd, **not to love such a
king; what angers thee most? for surely his love should be
better to thee than gold."

" This is the sorest sorrow to me," she said, " that the
bitter sword is not reddened in thy blood."

"Have no fear thereof!" says he, "no long while to
wait or the bitter sword stand deep in my heart ; and no
worse needest thou to pray for th)rself, for thou wilt not live
when I am dead ; the days of our two lives shall be few
enough from henceforth."

Brynhild .answers, " Enough and to spare of bale is in
thy speech, since thou bewrayedst me, and didst twin* me
and all bliss ; — naught do I heed my life or death."

Sigurd answers, " Ah, live, and love King Gunnar and
me withal ! and all my wealth will I give thee if thou die
not."

Brynhild answers, "Thou knowest me not, nor the heart
that is in me; for thou art the first and best of all
men, and I am become the most loathsome of all women
to thee."

"This is truer," says Sigurd, "that I loved thee better
than myself, though I fell into the wiles from whence our
lives may not escape ; for whenso my own heart and
♦ Sunder.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 107

mind availed me, then I sorrowed sore that thou wert
not my wife; but as I might I put my trouble from
me, for in a king's dwelling was I ; and withal and in
spite of all I was well content that we were all together.
Well may it be, that that shall come to pass which
is foretold ; neither shall I fear the fulfilment thereof."

Brynhild answered, and said, *«Too late thou tellest
me that my grief grieved thee: little pity shall I find
now."

Sigurd said, "This my heart would, that thou and
I should go into one bed together; even so wouldst
thou be my wife,"

Said Brynhild, "Such words may nowise be spoken,
nor will I have two kings in one hall ; I will lay my life
down rather than beguile Gunnar the King."

And therewith she call to mind how they met,
they two, on the mountain, and swore oath each to
each.

" But now is all changed, and I will not live."

*'I might not call to mind thy name," said Sigurd,
**or know thee again, before the time of thy wedding;
the greatest of all griefs is that."

Then said Brynhild, **I swore an oath to wed the
man who should ride my flaming fire, and that oath will
I hold to, or die."

"Bather than thou die, I will wed thee, and put
away Gudrun,^' said Sigurd.

But therewithal so swelled the heart betwixt the sides
of him, that the rings of his byrny burst asunder.

"I will not have thee," says Brynhild, "nay, nor any
other ! **

Then Sigurd got him gone.

So saith the song of Sigurd —

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io8 THE STORY OF THE

" Out then went Sigurd,
The great kings' well-loved,
From the speech and the sorrow,
Sore drooping, so grieving.
That the shirt round about him
Of iron rings woven.
From the sides brake asunder
Of the brave in the battle."

So when Sigurd came into the hall, Gunnar asked if he
had come to a knowledge of what great grief lay heavy
on her, or if she had power of speech : and Sigurd said
that she lacked it not. So now Gunnar goes to her
again, and asked her, what wrought her woe, or if there
were anything that might amend it

"I will not Hve," says Brynhild, "for Sigurd has
bewrayed me, yea, and thee no less, whereas thou didst
suffer him to come into my bed : lo thou, two men in
one dwelling I will not have; and this shall be Sigurd's
death, or thy death,' or my death; — for now has he
told Gudrun all, and she is mocking me even now I "

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CHAP. XXX.

Of the Slaying of Sigurd Fafnir^ s-bane,

'T^HEREAFTER Brynhild went out, and sat under
-*- her bower-wall, and had many words of wailing
to say, and still she cried that all things were loathsome
to her, both land and lordship alike, so she might not
have Sigurd.

But therewith came Gunnar to her yet again, and
Brynhild spake, " Thou shalt lose both realm and wealth,
and thy life and me, for I shall fare home to my kin,
and abide there in sorrow, unless thou slayest Sigurd
and his son ; never nourish thou a wolfcub."

Gunnar grew sick at heart thereat, and might nowise
see what fearful thing lay beneath it all ; he was bound
to Sigurd by oath, and this way and that way swung
the heart within him ; but at the last he bethought him
of the measureless shame if his wife went from him,
and he said within himself, "Brynhild is bettter to me
than all things else, and the fairest woman of all
women, and I will lay down my life rather than lose
the love of her." And herewith he called to him his
brother and spake, —

" Trouble is heavy on me," and he tells him that he
must^ needs slay Sigurd, for that he has failed him where

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in he trusted him; "so let us be lords of the gold and
the realm withal."

Hogni answers, "111 it behoves us to break our oaths
with wrack and wrong, and withal great aid we have in
him; no kings shall be aS great as we, if so be the
King of the Hun-folk may live; such another brother-
in-law never may we get again; bethink thee how good
it is to have such a brother-in-law, and such sons to our
sister! But well I see how things stand, for this has
Brynhild stirred thee up to, and surely shall her counsel
drag us into huge shame and scathe."

Gunnar says, "Yet shall it be brought about: and,
lo, a rede thereto ; — let us egg on our brother Guttorm to
the deed; he is young, and of litde knowledge, and is
clean out of all the oaths moreover.*'

"Ah, set about in ill wise," says Hogni, "and though
indeed it may well be compassed, a due reward shall
we gain for the bewrayal of such a man as is Sigurd."

Gunnar says, "Sigurd shall die, or I shall die."

And therewith he bids Brynhild arise and be glad
at heart: so she arose, and still ever she said that
Gunnar should come no more into her bed till the deed
was done.

So the brothers fall to talk, and Gunnar says that it
is a deed well worthy of death, that taking of Brynhild's
maidenhead; "So come now, let us prick on Guttorm
to do the deed."

Therewith they call him to them, and offer him gold
and great dominion, as they well have might to do.
Yea, and they took a certain worm and somewhat of
wolfs flesh and let seethe them together, and gave him
to eat of the same, even as the singer sings —

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. iii

Fish of the wild- wood,
Worm smooth crawling,
With wolf-meat mingled,
They minced for Guttorm ;
Then in the -beaker,
In the wine his mouth knew,
They set it, still doing
More deeds of wizards.

Wherefore with the eating of this meat he grew so wild
and eager, and with all things about him, and with
the heavy words of Grimhild, that he gave his word
to do the deed; and mighty honour they promised him
in reward thereof.

But of these evil wiles naught at all knew Sigurd, lor
he might not deal with his shapen fate, nor the measure
of his life-days, neither ' deemed he that he was worthy
of such things at their hands.

So Guttorm went in to Sigurd the next morning as he
lay upon his bed, yet durst he not do aught against
him, but shrank back out again; yea, and even so he
fared a second time, for so bright and eager were the
eyes of Sigurd that few durst look upon him. But the
third time he went in, and there lay Sigurd asleep;
then Guttorm drew his sword and thrust Sigurd through
in such wise that the sword point smote into the bed
beneath him; then Sigurd awoke with that wound, and
Guttorm gat him unto the door; but therewith Sigurd
caught up the sword Gram, and cast it after him, and
it smote him on the back, and struck him asunder in the
midst, so that the feet of him fell one way, and the head
and hands back into the chamber.

Now Gudrun lay asleep on Sigurd's bosom, but she

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112 THE STORY OF THE

woke up unto woe that may not be told of, all swimming
in the blood of him, and in such wise did she bewail
her with weeping and words of sorrow, that Sigurd rose up
on the bolster, and spake.

"Weep not," said he, "for thy brothers live for thy
delight ; but a young son have I, too young to be ware of
his foes ; and an ill turn have these played against their
own fortune ; for never will they get a mightier brother-in-
law to ride abroad with them; nay, nor a better son to
their sister, than this one, if he may grow to man's estate.
Lo, now is that come to pass which was foretold me long
ago, but from mine eyes has it been hidden, for none may
fight against his fate and prevail. Behold this' has
Brynhild brought to pass, even she who loves me before
all men ; but this may I swear, that never have I wrought
ill to Gunnar, but rather have ever held fast to my oath
with him, nor was I ever too much a friend to his wife.
And now if I had been forewarned, and had been afoot
with my weapons, then should many a man have lost his
life or ever I had fallen, and all those brethren should
have been slain, and a harder work would the slaying of me
have been than the slaying of the mightiest bull or the
mightiest boar of the wild- wood."

And even therewithal life left the King; but Gudrun
moaned and drew a weary breath, and Brynhild heard it,
and laughed when she heard her moaning.

Then said Gunnar, **Thou laughest not because thy
heart-roots are gladdened, or else why doth thy visage wax
so wan? Sure an evil creature thou art; most like
thou art nigh to thy death ! Lo now, how meet would
it be for thee to behold thy brother Atli slain before
thine eyes, and that thou shouldst stand over him dead;
whereas we must needs now stand over our brother-in-law

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBL UNGS. 1 13

in such a case — our brother-in-law and our brother's
bane."

She answered, "None need mock at the measure of
slaughter being unfulfilled; yet heedeth not Atli your
wrath or your threats; yea, he shall live longer than
ye, and be a mightier man."

Hogni spake and said, **Now hath come to pass the
soothsaying of Brynhild; an ill work not to be atoned
for."

And Gudrun said, ** My kinsmen have slain my husband ;
but ye, when ye next ride to the war and are come into the
battle, then shall ye look about and see that Sigurd is
neither on the right hand nor the left, and ye shall know
that he was your good-hap and your strength ; and if he
had lived and had sons, then should ye have been
strengthened by his offspring and his kin,**

008

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114 "^HE STOR V OF THE

CHAP. XXXI.

Of the Lamentation of Gudrun over Sigurd dead^ as it is
told in the ancient Songs*

/^UDRUNofolddays
^^ Drew near to dying
As she sat in sorrow
Over Sigurd ;
Yet she sighed not
Nor smote hand on hand,
Nor wailed she aught
As other women.

Then went earls to her,
Full of all wisdom,
Fain help to deal
To her dreadful heart :
Hushed was Gudrun
Of wail, or greeting,
But with a heavy woe
Was her heart a-breaking.

* This chapter is the Eddaic poem, called the first Lay of Gudrun,
inserted here by the translators.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 115

Bright and fair
Sat the great earls' brides,
Gold arrayed
Before Gudrun \
Each told the tale
Of her great trouble,
The bitterest bale
She erst abode.

Then spake Giaflaug,
Guiki*s sister :
** Lo upon earth
I live most loveless
Who of five mates
Must see the ending,
Of daughters twain
And three sisters,
Of brethren eight,
And abide behind lonely."

Naught gat Gudrun

Of wail and greeting,

So heavy was she

For her dead husband,

So dreadful-hearted

For the King laid dead there.

Then spake Herborg
Queen of Hunland —
" Crueller tale
Have I to tell of,
Of my seven sons
Down in the Southlands,

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ii6 THE STORY OF THE

And the eighth man, my mate,
Felled in the death-mead.

" Father and mother,
And four brothers,
On the wide sea

The winds and death played with ;
The billows beat
On the bulwark boards.

** Alone must I sing o'er them,
Alone must I array them,
Alone must my hands deal with
Their departing ;
And all this was
In one season's wearing,
And none was left
For love or solace.

** Then was I bound
A prey of the battle,
When that same season
Wore to its ending ;
As a tiring may
Must I bind the shoon
Of the duke's high dame.
Every day at dawning.

" From her jealous hate
Gat I heavy mocking,
Cruel lashes
She laid upon me,

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBL UNGS. 1 1 7

Never met I
Better master
Or mistress worser
In all the wide world."

Naught gat Gudrun

Of wail or greeting,

So heavy was she

For her dead husband,

So dreadful-hearted

For the King laid dead there.

Then spake Gullrond,
Guiki's daughter —
" O foster-mother,
Wise as thou mayst be.
Naught canst thou better
The young wife's bale/'
And she bade uncover
The dead King's corpse.

She swept the sheet
Away from Sigurd,
And turned his cheek
Towards his wife's knees —
** Look on thy loved one
Lay lips to his lips.
E'en as thou wert clinging
To thy king alive yet ! "

Once looked Gudrun —
One look only,

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1 18 THE STOR Y OF THE

And saw her lord's locks
L3dng all bloody,
The great man's eyes
Glazed and deadly,
And his heart's bulwark
Broken by sword-edge.

Back then sank Gudrun,
Back on the bolster.
Loosed was her head array,
Red did her cheeks grow,
And the rain-drops ran
Down over her knees.

Then wept Gudrun,

Giuki's daughter,

So that the tears flowed

Through the pillow ;

As the geese withal

That were in the homefield,

The fair fowls the may owned,

Fell a-screaming. ,

Then spake Gullrond,

Giuki's daughter —

" Surely knew I

No love like your love

Among all men,

On the mould abiding ;

Naught wouldst thou joy in

Without or within doors,

O my sister,

Save beside Sigurd."

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VOLSUMGS AND NIBLUNGS. 119

Then spake Gudrun,
Giuki's daughter —
** Such was my Sigurd
Among the sons of Giuki,
As is the king leek
0*er the low grass waxing,
Or a bright stone
Strung on band,
Or a pearl of price
On a prince's brow.

'* Once was I counted
By the king's warriors
Higher than any
Of Herjan's mays ;
Now am I as little
As the leaf may be,
Amid wind-swept wood
Now when dead he lieth.

" I miss from my seat,
I miss from my bed,
My darling of sweet speech.
Wrought the sons of Giuki,
Wrought the sons of Giuki,
This sore sorrow,
Yea, for their sister.
Most sore sorrow.

" So may your lands
Lie waste on all sides,
As ye have broken
Your bounden oaths !

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120 THE STORY OF THE

Ne'er shdt thou, Gunnar,
The gold have joy of,
The dear-bought rings
Shall drag thee to death,
Whereon thou swarest
Oath unto Sigurd.

" Ah, in the days by-gone
Great mirth in the homefield
When my Sigurd
Set saddle on Grani,
And they went their ways
For the wooing of Brynhild !
An ill day, an ill woman,
And most ill hap ! "

Then spake Brynhild,
Budli's daughter —
" May the woman lack
Both love and children,
Who gained greeting
For thee, O Gudrun !
Who gave thee this morning
Many words ! "

Then spake Gullrond,
Giuki's daughter —
** Hold peace of such words
Thou hated of all folk !
The bane of brave men
Hast thou been ever.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 121

All waves of ill

Wash over thy mind,

To seven great kings

Hast thou been a sore sorrow,

And the death of good will

To wives and women."

Then spake Brynhild,
Budli's daughter —
" None but Atli
Brought bale upon us,
My very brother
Bom of Budli.

" When we saw in the hall
Of the Hunnish people
The gold a-gleaming
On the kingly Giukings \
I have paid for that faring
Oft and full,
And for the sight
That then I saw."

By a pillar she stood

And strained its wood to her;

From the eyes of Brynhild,

Budli*s daughter,

Flashed out fire.

And she snorted forth venom,

As the sore wounds she gazed on

Of the dead-slain Sigurd.

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122 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXXII.
Of the Ending of Brynhild,

A ND now none might know for what cause Brynhild
"^^ must bewail with weeping for what she had prayed
for with laughter : but she spake —

" Such a dream I had, Gunnar, as that my bed was acold,
and that thou didst ride into the hands of thy foes : lo
now, ill shall it go with thee and all thy kin, O ye breakers
of oaths ; for on the day thou slayedst him, dimly didst
thou remember how thou didst blend thy blood with the
blood of Sigurd, and with an ill reward hast thou rewarded
him for all that he did well to thee ; whereas he gave unto
thee to be the mightiest of men ; and well was it proven
how fast he held to his oath sworn, when he came to me
and laid betwixt us the sharp-edged sword that in venom
had been made hard. All too soon did ye fall to working
wrong against him and against me, whenas I abode at
home with my father, and had all that I would, and had no
will that any one of you should be any of mine, as ye rode
into our garth, ye three kings together ; but then Atli led
me apart privily, and asked me if I would not have him
who rode Grani ; — yea, a man nowise like unto you ; but
in those days I plighted myself to the son of King Sigmund
and no other ; and lo, now, no better shall ye fare for the
death of me."

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 123

Then rose up Guiinar, and laid his arms about her neck,
and besought her to live and have wealth from him ; and
all others in likewise letted her from dying ; but she thrust
them all from her, and said that it was not the part of any
to let her in that which was her will.

Then Gunnar called to Hogni, and prayed him for
counsel, and bade him go to her, and see if he might
perchance soften her dreadful heart, saying withal, that
now they had need enough on their hands in the slaking of
her grief, till time might get over.

But Hogni answered, " Nay, let no man hinder her from
dying ; for no gain will she be to us, nor has she been
gainsome since she came hither I **

Now she bade bring forth much gold, and bade all those
come thither who would have wealth : then she caught up
a sword, and thrust it under her armpit, and sank aside
upon the pillows, and said, ** Come, take gold whoso will ! "

But all held their peace, and she said, '* Take the gold,
and be glad thereof ! "

And therewith she spake unto Gunnar, " Now for a little
while will I tell of that which shall come to pass hereafter ;
for speedily shall ye be at one again with Gudrun by the
rede of Grimhild the Wise-wife ; and the daughter of
Gudrun and Sigurd shall be called Swanhild, the fairest of
all women born. Gudrun shall be given to Atli, yet not
with her good will. Thou shalt be fain to get Oddrun, but
that shall Atli forbid thee ; but privily shall ye meet, and
much shall she love thee. Atli shall bewray thee, and cast
thee into a worm-close, and thereafter shall Atli and his
sons be slain, and Gudrun shall be their slayer ; and after-
wards shall the great waves hear her to the burg of King
Jonakr, to whom she shall bear sons of great fame : Swan-
hild shall be sent from the land and given to King

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124 THE STORY OF THE

Jormunrek; and her shall bite the rede of Bikki, and
therewithal is the kin of you clean gone ; and more sorrows
therewith for Gudrun.

"And now I pray thee, Gunnar, one last boon. — Let
make a great bale on the plain meads for all of us ; for me,
and for Sigurd, and for those who were slain with him, and
let that be covered over with cloth dyed red by the folk of
the Gauls,* and bum me thereon on one side of the King
of the Huns, and on the other those men of mine, two at
the head and two at the feet, and two hawks withal ; and
even so is all shared equally ; and lay there betwixt us a
drawn sword, as in the other days when we twain stepped
into one bed together ; and then may we have the name
of man and wife, nor shall the door swing to at the heel of
him as I go behind him. Nor shall that be a niggard
company if there follow him those five bond-women and
eight bondmen, whom my father gave me, and those bum
there withal who were slain with Sigurd.

" Now more yet would I say, but for my wounds, but my
life-breath flits; the wounds open, — yet have I said sooth."

Now is the dead corpse of Sigurd arrayed in olden wise,
and a mighty bale is raised, and when it was somewhat
kindled, there was laid thereon the dead corpse of Sigurd
Fafnir*s-bane, and his son of three winters whom Brynhild
had let slay, and Guttorm withal ; and when the bale was
all ablaze, thereunto was Brynhild borne out, when she
had spoken with her bower-maidens, and bid them take the
gold that she would give ; and then died Brynhild, and was
burned there by the side of Sigurd, and thus their life-days
ended.

* The original has ratidu manna blodiy red-dyed in the blood of men ;
the Sagaman's original error in dealing with the word Valaript in the
corresponding passage of the short lay of Sigurd. — TV.

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VOLSUNGS AJ^D NIBL UNGS. 1 25

CHAP. XXXIII.

Gudrun wedded to AtlL

TVr OW so it is, that whoso heareth these tidings sayeth,
•*• ^ that no such an one as was Sigurd was left behind
him in the world, nor ever was such a man brought forth
because of all the worth of him, nor may his name ever
minish by eld in the Dutch Tongue nor in all the Northern
Lands, while the world standeth fast.

The story tells that, on a day, as Gudrun sat in her
bower, she fell to saying, "Better was life in those days
when I had Sigurd; he who was far above other men
as gold is above iron, or the leek over other grass of
the field, or the hart over other wild things; until my
brethren begrudged me such a man, the first and best
of all men ; and so they might not sleep or they had slain
him. Huge clamour made Grani when he saw his master
and lord sore wounded, and then I spoke to him even as
with a man, but he fell drooping down to the earth, for he
knew that Sigurd was slain."

Thereafter Gudrun gat her gone into the wild woods,
and heard on all ways round about her the howling of
wolves, and deemed death a merrier thing than life.
Then she went till she came to the hall of King Alf,
and sat there in Denmark with Thora, the daughter of

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126 THE STORY OF THE

Hakon, for seven seasons, and abode with good wel-
come. And she set forth her needlework before her,
and did thereinto many deeds and great, and fair plays
after the fashion of those days, swords and byrnies, and
all the gear of kings, and the ship of King Sigmund
sailing along the land; yea, and they wrought there,
how they fought, Sigar and Siggeir, south in Fion. Such
was their disport; and now Gudrun was somewhat
solaced of her grief.

So Grimhild comes to hear where Gudrun has take up
her abode, and she calls her sons to talk with her, and
asks whether they will make atonement to Gudrun for
her son and her husband, and said that it was but meet
and right to do so.

Then Gunnar spake, and said that he would atone for
her sorrows with gold.

So they send for their friends, and array their horses,
their helms, and theu: shields, and their byrnies, and all their
war-gear; and their journey was furnished forth in the
noblest wise, and no champion who was of the great men
might abide at home; and their horses were clad in
mail-coats, and every knight of them had his helm done
over with gold or with silver.

Grimhild was of their company, for she said that their
errand would never be brought fairly to pass if she sat
at home.

There were well five hundred men, and noble men rode
with them. There was Waldemar of Denmark, and
Eymod and Jarisleif withal. So they went into the hall
of King Alf, and there abode them the Longbeards,
and Franks, and Saxons: they fared with all their
war-gear, and had over them red fur-coats.* Even as the
song says —

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBL UNGS. 1 2 7

Byrnies short cut,
Strong helms hammered,
Girt with good swords,
Red hair gleaming.

They were fain to choose good gifts for their sister, and
spake softly to her, but in none of them would she trow.
Then Gunnar brought unto her a drink mingled with
hurtful things, and this she must needs drink, and with the
drinking thereof she had no more memory of their guilt
against her.

But in that drink was blended the might of the earth and
the sea with the blood of her son; and in that horn
were all letters cut and reddened with blood, as is said
hereunder —

On the horn's face were there

All the kin of letters

Cut aright and reddened,

How should I rede them rightly ?

The ling-fish long

Of the land of Hadding,

Wheat-ears unshorn,

And wild things' inwards.

In that beer were mingled

Many ills together,

Blood of all the wood

And brown-burnt acorns.

The black dew of the hearth,

The God-doomed dead beast's inwards,

And the swine's liver sodden

Because all wrongs that deadens.

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128 THE STORY OF THE

And so now, when their hearts are brought anigh to each
other, great cheer they made: then came Grimhild to
Gudrun, and spake —

** All hail to thee, daughter 1 I give thee gold and all
kinds of good things to take to thee after thy father, dear-
bought rings and bed-gear of the maids of the Huns, the
most courteous and well dight of all women ; and thus is
thy husband atoned for: and thereafter shalt thou be
given to Atli, the mighty king, and be mistress of all his
might. Cast not all thy friends aside for one man's sake,
but do according to our bidding."

Gudrun answers, " Never will I wed Atli the King :
unseemly it is for us to get oflfspring betwixt us."

Grimhild says, ** Nourish not thy wrath ; it shall be to
thee as if Sigurd and Sigmund were alive when thou hast
borne sons."

Gudrun says, ** I cannot take my heart from thoughts of
him, for he was the first of all men."

Grimhild says, " So it is shapen that thou must have this
king and none else."

Says Gudrun, "Give not this man to me, for an evil
thing shall come upon thy kin from him, and to his own
sons shall he deal evil, and be rewarded with a grim
revenge thereafter."

Then waxed Grimhild fell at those words, and spake,
" Do even as we bid thee, and take therefore great honour,
and our friendship, and the steads withal called Vinbjorg
and Valbjorg."

And such might was in the words of her, that even so
must it come to pass.

Then Gudrun spake, " Thus then must it needs befall,
howsoever against the will of me, and for little joy shall it
be and for great grief."

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1

VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 129

Then men leaped on their horses, and their women
were set in wains. So they fared four days a-riding
and other four a-shipboard, and yet four more again
by land and road, till at the last they came to a
certain high-built hall; then came to meet Gudrun
many folk thronging; and an exceedingly goodly feast
was there made, even as the word had gone between
either kin, and it passed forth in most proud and stately
wise. And at that feast drinks Atli his bridal with
Gudrun; but never did her heart laugh on him, and
little sweet and kind was their life together.

009

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130 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXXIV.

Atli bids the Giukings to him.

"M^OW tells the tale that on a night King Atli woke
■*" ^ from sleep and spake to Gudnin —

" Medreamed," said he, "that thou didst thrust me
through with a sword."

Then Gudrun areded the dream, and said that it
betokened fire, whenas folk dreamed of iron. " It befalls
of thy pride belike, in that thou deemest thyself the
first of men."

Atli said, "Moreover I dreamed that here waxed
two sorb-tree* saplings, and fain I was that they should
have no scathe of me; then these were riven up by
the roots and reddened with blood, and borne to the
bench, and I was bidden eat thereof

"Yea, yet again I dreamed that two hawks flew from
my hand hungry and unfed, and fared to hell, and
meseemed their hearts were mingled with honey, and
that I ate thereof.

"And then again I dreamed that two fair whelps lay
before me yelHng aloud, and that the flesh of them I ate^
though my will went not with the eating."

Gudrun says, "Nowise good are these dreams, yet

* Service-tree ; pyrus sorbus domestical or/, s, tormentaiis.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 131

shall they come to pass; surely thy sons are nigh to
death, and many heavy things shall fall upon us."

** Yet again I dreamed," said he, " and methought I lay
in a bath, and folk took counsel to slay me."

Now these things wear away with time, but in nowise
was their life together fond. \

Now falls Atli to thinking of where may be gotten
that plenteous gold which Sigurd had owned, but King
Gunnar and his brethren were lords thereof now.

Atli was a great king and mighty, wise, and a lord
of many men ; and now he falls to counsel with his folk
as to the ways of them. He wotted well that Gunnar
and his brethren had more wealth than any others might
have; and so he falls to the rede of sending men to
them, and bidding them to a great feast, and honouring
them in diverse wise, and the chief of those messengers
was hight Vingi

Now the queen Wots of their conspiring, and misdoubts
her that this would mean some beguiling of her brethren :
so she cut runes, and took a gold ring, and knit therein
a wolfs hair, and gave it into the hands of the king's
messengers.

Thereafter they go their ways according to the king's
bidding; and or ever they came aland Vingi beheld the
runes, and turned them about in such a wise as if
Gudrun prayed her brethren in her runes to go meet
King Atli.

Thereafter they came to the hall of King Gunnar,
and had good welcome at his hands, and great fires
were made for them, and in great joyance they drank of
the best of drink.

Then spake Vingi, " King Atli sends me hither, and
is fain that ye go to his house and home in all glory,

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132 THE STORY OF THE

and take of him exceeding honours, helms and shields,
swords and byrnies, gold and goodly raiment, horses,
hosts of war, and great and wide lands, for, saith he, he
is fainest of all things to bestow his realm and lordship
upon you."

Then Gunnar turned his head aside, and spoke to
Hogni —

** In, what wise shall we take this bidding? might and
wealth he bids us take; but no kings know I who have
so much gold as we have, whereas we have all the hoard
which lay once on Gnitaheath; and great are our
chambers, and full of gold, and weapons for smiting, and
all kinds of raiment of war, and well I wot that amidst
all men my horse is the best, and my sword the sharpest,
and my gold the most glorious.''

Hogni answers, " A marvel is it to me of his bidding,
for seldom hath he done in such a wise, and ill-
counselled will it be to wend to him; lo now, when 1
saw those dear-bought things the king sends us I won-
dered to behold a wolfs hair knit to a certain gold ring ;
belike Gudrun deems him to be minded as a wolf
towards us, and will have naught of our faring."

But withal Vingi shows him the runes which he said
Gudrun had sent.

Now the most of folk go to bed, but these drank on
still with certain others ; and Kostbera, the wife of Hogni,
the fairest of women, came to them, and looked on the
runes.

But the wife of Gunnar was Glaumvor, a great-
hearted wife.

So these twain poured out, and the kings drank,
and were exceeding drunken, and Vingi notes it, and
says —

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 133

" Naught may I hide that King Atli is heavy of foot and
over-old for the warding of his realm ; but his sons are
young and of no account : now will he give you rule over
his realms while they are yet thus young, and most fain
will he be that ye have the joy thereof before all others."

Now so it befell both that Gunnar was drunk, and that
great dominion was held out to him, nor might he work
against the fate shapen for him ; so he gave his word to go,
and tells Hogni his brother thereof.

But he answered, "Thy word given must even stand
now, nor will I fail to follow thee, but most loth am I to
this journey."

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134 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXXV.

The Dreams of the Wives of the Giukings.

CO when men had drunk their fill, they fared to sleep ;
^ then falls Kostbera to beholding the runes, and spell-
ing over the letters, and sees that beneath were other things
cut, and that the runes are guileful ; yet because of her
wisdom she had skill to read them aright So then she
goes to bed by her husband ; but when they awoke, she
spake unto Hogni —

" Thou art minded to wend away firom home — ^ill-coun-
selled is that ; abide till another time ! Scarce a keen
reader of runes art thou, if thou deemest thou hast beheld in
them the bidding of thy sister to this journey : lo, I read
the runes, and had marvel of so wise a woman as Gudrun
is, that she should have miscut them ; but that which lieth
underneath beareth your bane with it, — yea, either she
lacked a letter, or others have dealt guilefully with the runes.

" And now hearken to my dream ; for therein methought
there fell in upon us here a river exceeding strong, and
brake up the timbers of the hall."

He answered, ** Full oft are ye evil of mind, ye women,
but for me, I was not made in such wise as to meet men
with evil who deserve no evil'; belike he will give us good
welcome.'*

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 135

She answered, **Well, the thing must ye yourselves
prove, but no friendship follows this bidding : — but yet
again I dreamed that another river fell in here with a great
and grimly rush, and tore up the dais of the hall, and brake
the legs of both you brethren; surely that betokeneth
somewhat"

He answers, "Meadows along our way, whereas thou
didst dream of the river; for when we go through the
meadows, plentifully doth the seeds of the hay hang about
our legs."

"Again I dreamed," she says, "that thy cloak was afire,
and that the flame blazed up above the hall."

Says he, " WeU, I wot what that shall betoken ; here lieth
my fair-dyed raiment, and it shall bum and blaze, whereas
thou dreamedst of the cloak."

" Methought a bear came in," she says, ** and brake up
the king's high-seat, and shook his paws in such a wise that
we were all adrad thereat, and he gat us all together into
the mouth of him, so that we might avail us naught, and
thereof fell great horror on us."

He answered, "Some great storm will befall, whereas
thou hadst a white bear in thy mind"

"An erne methought came in," she says, "and swept
adown the hall, and drenched me and all of us with blood,
and ill shall that betoken, for methought it was the double
of King Atli."

He answered, " Full oft do we slaughter beasts freely,
and smite down great neat for our cheer, and the dream of
the erne has but to do with oxen ; yea, Atli is heart-whole
toward us."

And therewithal they cease this talt

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136 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXXVT.

Of the Journey of the Giukings to King Atii,

TVrOW tells the tale of Gunnar, that in the same wise
■*- ^ it fared with him ; for when they awoke, Glaumvor
his wife told him many dreams which seemed to her like to
betoken guile coming; but Gunnar areded them all in
other wise.

"This was one of them," said she; "methought a bloody
sword was borne into the hall here, wherewith thou
wert thrust through, and at either end of that sword
wolves howled."

The king answered, "Cur dogs shall bite me belike;
blood-stained weapons oft betoken dogs' snappings."

She said, "Yet again I dreamed — ^that women came in,
heavy and drooping, and chose thee for their mate ; may-
happen these would be thy fateful women."

He answered, " Hard to arede is this, and none may set
aside the fated measure of his days, nor is it unlike that my
time is short.'*

So in the morning they arose, and were minded for the
journey, but some letted them herein.

Then cried Gunnar to the man who is called Fjomir —

" Arise, and give us to drink goodly wine from great tuns,
because mayhappen this shall be very last of all our feasts ;

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 137

for belike if we die the old wolf shall come by the gold,
and that bear shall nowise spare the bite of his ^ar-tusks."

Then all the folk of his household brought them on their
way weeping.

The son of Hogni said —

" Fare ye well with merry tide."

The more part of their folk were left behind; Solar
and Gnoevar, the sons of Hogni, fared with them, and a
certain great champion, named Orkning, who was the
brother of Kostbera.

So folk followed them down to the ships, and all
letted them of their journey, but attained to naught
therein.

Then spake Glaumvor, and said —

" O Vingi, most like that great ill hap will come of thy
coming, and mighty and evil things shall betide in thy
travelling."

He answered, " Hearken to my answer ; that I lie not
aught : and may the high gallows and all things of grame
have me, if I lie one word ! "

Then cried Kostbera, "Fare ye well with merry
days."

And Hogni answered, " Be glad of heart, howsoever it
may fare with us ! "

Arid therewith they parted, each to their own fate.
Then away they rowed, so hard and fast, that well-nigh
the half of the keel slipped away from the ship, and
so hard they laid on to the oars that thole and gunwale
brake.

But when they came aland they made their ship fast,
and then they rode awhile on their noble steeds through
the murk wild- wood.

And now they behold the king's army, and huge

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138 THE STORY OF THE

uproar, and the clatter of weapons they hear from thence ;
and they see there a mighty host of men, and the mani-
fold array of them, even as they wrought there : and all
the gates of the burg were full of men.

So they rode up to the burg, and the gates thereof
were shut; then Hogni brake open the gates, and
therewith they ride into the burg.

Then spake Vingi, " Well might ye have left this deed
undone; go to now, bide ye here while I go seek your
gallows-tree ! Softly and sweetly I bade you hither, but
an evil thing abode thereunder ; short while to bide ere ye
are tied up to that same tree !"

Hogni answered, "None the more shall we waver
for that cause; for little methinks have we shrunk
aback whenas men fell to fight; and naught shall it
avail thee to make us afeard, — and for an ill fate hast thou
wrought."

And there¥rith they cast him down to earth, and smote
him with their axe-hammers till he died.

Note, — Parallel belief to those in the preceding chapters, and else-
where in this book, as to spells, dreams, drinks, etc., among the
English people may be found in Leechdoms, Wortcunnin^y and Star-
craft of the Anglo-Saxons ; being a collection of Documents illustrating
the History of Science in this Country before the Norman Conquest.
Ed: Rev. T. O* Cockayne, M.A. (3 vols.) Longmans^ London^
1864, 8vo.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLVNGS. 139

CHAP. XXXVIL
The Battle in the Burg of King Atli.

T^HEN they rode unto the king's hall, and King Atli
^ arrayed his host for battle, and the ranks were
so set forth that a certain wall there was betwixt them
and the brethren.

"Welcome hither," said he. ** Deliver unto me that
plenteous gold which is mine of right; even the wealth
which Sigurd once owned, and which is now Gudrun's of
right."

Gunnar answered, "Never gettest thou that wealth;
and men of might must thou meet here, or ever we lay
by life if thou wilt deal with us in battle : ah, belike thou
settest forth this feast like a great man, and wouldst not
hold thine hand from erne and wolf! "

"Long ago I had it in my mind," said Atli, "to take
the lives of you, and be lord of the gold, and reward you
for that deed of shame, wherein ye beguiled the best of
all your affinity ; but now shall I revenge him."

Hogni answered, "Little will it avail to lie long
brooding over that rede, leaving the work undone.*'

And therewith they fell to hard fighting, at the first brunt
with shot

But therewithal came the tidings to Gudrun, and when

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140 THE STORY OF THE

she heard thereof she grew exceeding wroth, and cast
her mantle from her, and ran out and greeted those
new-comers, and kissed her brethren, and showed them
all love, — and the last of all greetings was that betwixt
them.

Then said she, "I thought I had set forth counsels
whereby ye should not come hither, but none may deal
with his shapen fate." And withal she said, " Will it avail
aught to seek for peace ? "

But stoutly and grimly they said nay thereto. So she
sees' that the game goeth sorely against her brethren, and
she gathers to her great stoutness of heart, and does on her
a mail-coat and takes to her a sword, and fights by her
brethren, and goes as far forward as the bravest of man-
folk : and all spoke in one wise that never saw any fairer
defence than in her.

Now the men fell thick, and far before all others was
the fighting of those brethren, and the battle endured a
long while unto midday; Gunnar and Hogni went right
through the folk of Atli, and so tells the tale that all
the mead ran red with blood; the sons of Hogni withal
set on stoutly.

Then spake AtU the king, "A fair host and a great
have we, and mighty champions withal, and yet have
many of us fallen, and but evil am I apaid in that
nineteen of my champions are slain, and but six left
alive."

And therewithal was there a lull in the battle.

Then spake Atli the king, " Four brethren were we, and
now am I left alone; great affinity I gat to me, and
deemed my fortune well sped thereby ; a wife I had, fair
and wise, high of mind, and great of heart; but no
joyance may I have of her wisdom, for little peace is

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VOLSVNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 141

betwixt us, — but ye — ye have slain many of my kin, and
beguiled me of realm and riches, and for the greatest of all
woes have slain my sister withal."

Quoth Hogni, " Why babblest thou thus ? thou wert the
first to break the peace. Thou didst take my kinswoman
and pine her to death by hunger, and didst murder her,
and take her wealth ; an ugly deed for a king f— meet for
mocking and laughter I deem it, that thou must needs
make long tale of thy woes j rather will I give thanks to
the Gods that thou fallest into ill."

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144 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXXVIII.
Of the Slayiugofthe Giukings.

■[VrOW King Atli eggs on his folk to set on fiercely, and
■'' ^ eagerly they fight ; but the Guikings fell on so hard
that King AtU gave back into the hall, and within doors
was the fight, and fierce beyond all fights.

That battle was the death of many a man, but such was
the ending thereof, that there fell all the folk of those
brethren, and they twain alone stood up on their feet,
and yet many more must fare to hell first before their
weapons.

And now they fell on Gunnar the king, and because of
the host of men that set on him was hand laid on him,
and he was cast into fetters; afterwards fought Hogni,
with the stoutest heart and the greatest manhhood; and he
felled to earth twenty of the stoutest of the champions of
King Atli, and many he thrust into the fire that burnt
amidst the hall, and all were of one accord that such a man
might scarce be seen; yet in the end was he borne down
by many and taken.

Then said King Atli, "A marvellous thing how many
men have gone their ways before him I Cut the heart firom
out of him, and let that be his bane I '*

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VOLSVNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 143

Hogni said, " Do according to thy will ; merrily will I
abide whatso thou wilt do against me ; and thou shalt
see that my heart is not adrad, for hard matters have I
made trial of ere now, and all things that may try a man
was I fain to bear, whiles yet I was unhurt; but now
sorely am I hurt, and thou alone henceforth will bear
mastery in our deahngs together."

Then spake a counsellor of King Atli, " Better rede I
see thereto ; take we the thrall Hjalli, and give respite to
Hogni ; for this thrall is made to die, since the longer he
lives the less worth shall he be."

The thrall hearkened, and cried out aloft, and fled away
anywhither where he might hope for shelter, crying out
that a hard portion was his because of their strife and
wild doings, and an ill day for him whereon he must be
dragged to death from his sweet life and his swine-keeping.
But they caught him, and turned a knife against him, and
he yelled and screamed or ever he felt the point
thereofl

Then in such wise spake Hogni as a man seldom
speaketh who is fallen into hard need, for he prayed for
the thrall's life, and said that these shrieks he could not
away with, and that it were a lesser matter to him to play
out the play to the end ; and therewithal the thrall gat his
life as for that time : but Gunnar and Hogni are both
laid in fetters.

Then spake King Atli with Gunnar the king, and bade
him tell out concerning the gold, and where it was, if he
would have his life.

But he answered, *' Nay, first will I behold the bloody
heart of Hogni, my brother."

So now they caught hold of the thrall again, and cut the

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144 THE STORY OF THE

heart from out of him, and bore it unto King Gunnar, but
he said —

''The faint heart of Hjalli may ye here behold, Httle Hke
the proud heart of Hogni, for as much as it trembleth now,
more by the half it trembled whenas it lay in the breast of
him."

So now they fell on Hogni even as Atli urged them, and
cut the heart from out of him, but such was the might of
his manhood, that he laughed while he abode that torment,
and all wondered at his worth, and in perpetual memory is
it held sithence.*

Then they showed it to Gunnar, and he s^id —

" The mighty heart of Hogni, little like the faint heart of
Hjalli, for little as it trembleth now, less it trembled whenas
in his breast it lay ! But now, O Atli, even as we die so
shalt thou die ; and lo, I alone wot where the gold is, nor
shall Hogni be to tell thereof now ; to and fro played the
matter in my mind whiles we both lived, but now have I
myself determined for myself, and the Rhine river shall
rule over the gold, rather than that the Huns shall bear it
on the hands of them."

Then said King Atli, " Have away the bondsman ; " and
so they did

But Gudrun called to her men, and came to Atli, and
said —

•*May it fare ill with thee now and from henceforth,
even as thou hast ill held to thy word with me ! "

So Gunnar was cast.into a worm-close, and many worms
abode him there, and his hands were fast bound; but
Gudrun sent him a harp, and in such wise did he set forth
his craft, that wisely he smote the harp, smiting it with his

* Since [,sidh^ after, dnd dkdM^ that.)

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 145

toes, and so excellently well he played, that few deemed
they had heard such playing, even when the hand had done
it. And with such might and power he played, that all
the worms fell asleep in the end, save one adder only,
great and evil of aspect, that crept unto him and thrust its
sting into him until it smote his heart ; and in such wise
with great hardihood he ended his life days.

0010

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146 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XXXIX.

The End of Atli and his Kin and Folk,

'MfOW thought AtH the King that he had gained a
mighty victory, and spake to Gudrun even as
mocking her greatly, or as making himself great before
her. "Gudrun," saith he, "thus hast thou lost thy
brethren, and thy very self hast brought it about"

She answers, " In good liking livest thou, whereas thou
thrustest these slayings before me, but mayhappen thou
wilt rue it, when thou hast tried what is to come hereafter ;
and of all I have, the longest-lived matter shall be the
memory of thy cruel heart, nor shall it go well with thee
whiles I live."

He answered and said, " Let there be peace betwixt us ;
I will atone for thy brethren with gold and dear-bought
things, even as thy heart may wish."

She answers, " Hard for a long while have I been in our
dealings together, and now I say, that while Hogni was yet
alive thou mightest have brought it to pass; but now
mayest thou never atone for my brethren in my heart ; yet
oft must we women be overborne by the might of you
men; and now are all my kindred dead and gone, and
thou alone art left to rule over me : wherefore now this is

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 147

my counsel that we make a great feast, wherein I will hold
the funeral of my brother and of thy kindred withal."

In such wise did she make herself soft and kind in words,
though far other things forsooth lay thereunder, but he
hearkened to her gladly, and trusted in her words, whereas
she made herself sweet of speech.

So Gudrun held the funeral feast for her brethren, and
King Atli for his men, and exceeding proud and great was
this feast

But Gudrun forgat not her woe, but brooded over it,
how she might work some mighty shame against the king ;
and at nightfall she took to her the sons of King Atli and
her as they played about the floor ; the younglings waxed
heavy of cheer, and asked what she would with them.

" Ask me not," she said ; " ye shall die, the twain of
you ! "

Then they answered, "Thou mayest do with thy
children even as thou wilt, nor shall any hinder thee, but
shame there is to thee in the doing of this deed."

Yet for all that she cut the throats of them.

Then the king asked where his sons were, and Gudrun
answered, '* I will tell thee, and gladden thine heart by the
telling ; lo now, thou didst make a great woe spring up for
me in the slaying of my brethren ; now hearken and hear
my rede and my deed j thou hast lost thy sons, and their
heads are become beakers on the board here, and thou
thyself hast drunken the blood of them blended with wine;
and their hearts I took and roasted them on a spit, and
thou hast eaten thereof."

King Atli answered, " Grim art thou in that thou hast
murdered thy sons, and given me their flesh to eat, and
little space passes betwixt ill deed of thine and ill deed."

Gudrun said, ** My heart is set on the doing to thee of as

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148 THE STORY OF THE

great shame as may be ; never shall the measure of ill be
full to such a king as thou art."

The kirig said, **Worser deeds hast thou done than
men have to tell of, and great unwisdom is there in such
fearful redes ; most meet art thou to be burned on bale
when thou hast first been smitten to death with stones, for
in such wise wouldst thou have what thou hast gone a
weary way to seek.'*

She answered, " Thine own death thou foretellest, but
another death is fated for me."

And many other words they spake in their wrath.

Now Hogni had a son left alive, hight Niblung, and
great wrath of heart he bare against King Atli ; and he did
Gudrun to wit that he would avenge his father. And she
took his words well, aild they fell to counsel together
thereover, and she said it would be great goodhap if it
might be brought about.

So on a night, when the king had drunken, he gat him to
bed, and when he was laid asleep, thither to him came
Gudrun and the son of Hogni.

Gudrun took a sword and thrust it through the breast of
King Atli, and they both of them set their hands to the
deed, both she and the son of Hogni.

Then AtH the king awoke with the wound, and cried out,
" No need of binding or salving here ! — who art thou who
hast done the deed ? "

Gudrun says, "Somewhat have I, Gudrun, wrought
therein, and somewhat withal the son of Hogni."

Atli said, " 111 it beseemed to thee to do this, though
somewhat of wrong was between us ; for thou wert wedded
to me by the rede of thy kin, and dower paid I for thee ;
yea, thirty goodly knights, and seemly maidens, and many
men besides ; and yet wert thou not content, but if thou

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 149

shouldest rule over the lands King Budli owned : and thy
mother-in-law full oft thou lettest sit a-weeping."

Gudrun said, " Many false words hast thou spoken, and
of naught I account them ; oft, indeed, vas I fell of mood,
but much didst thou add thereto. Full oft in this thy
house did frays befall, and kin fought kin, and friend fought
friend, and made themselves big one against the other;
better days had I whenas I abode with Sigurd, when we
slew kings, and took their wealth to us, but gave peace to
whomso would, and the great men laid themselves under
our hands, and might we gave to him of them who would
have it; then I lost him, and a little thing was it that I
should bear a widow's name, but the greatest of griefs that
I should come to thee — I who had aforetime the noblest
of all kings, while for thee, thou never barest out of the
battle aught but the worser lot."

King Atli answered, "Naught true are thy words, nor
will this our speech better the lot of either of us, for all is
fallen now to naught ; but now do to me in seemly wise,
and array my dead corpse in noble fashion. **

"Yea, that will I," she says, "and let make for thee a
goodly grave, and build for thee a worthy abiding place of
stone, and wrap thee in fair linen, and care for all that
needful is."

So therewithal he died, and she did according to heir
word : and then they cast fire into the hall.

And when the folk and men of estate awoke amid that
dread and trouble, naught would they abide the fire, but
smote each the other down, and died in such wise ; so there
Atli the king, and all his folk, ended their life-days. But
Gudrun had no will to live longer after this deed so wrought,
but nevertheless her ending day was not yet come upon
her.

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I50 THE STORY OF THE

Now the Volsungs and the Giukings, as folk tell in tale,
have been the greatest-hearted and the mightiest of all
men, as ye may well behold written in the songs of old
time.

But now with the tidings just told were these troubles
stayed.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 151

CHAP. XL.

How Gudrun cast herself into the Sea^ but was brought
ashore again.

/^UDRUN had a daughter by Sigurd hight Swanhild;
^-^ she was the fairest of all women, eager-eyed as her
father, so that few durst look under the brows of her;
and as far did she excel other woman-kind as the sun excels
the other lights of heaven.

But on a day went Gudrun down to the sea, and caught
up stones in her arms, and went out into the sea, for she
had will to end her life. But mighty billows drave her
forth along the sea, and by means of their upholding
was she borne along till she came at the last to the burg of
King Jonakr, a mighty king, and lord of many folL And
he took Gudrun to wife, and their children were Hamdir,
and Sorli, and Erp; and there was Swanhild nourished
withaL

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152 THE STORY OF THE

CHAP. XLL
Of the Wedding and laying of Swanhild,

JORMUNREK was the name of a mighty king of those
days, and his son was called Randver. Now this king
called his son to talk with him, and said, "Thou shalt farp
on an errand of mine to King Jonakr, with my counsellor
Bikki, for with King Jonakr is nourished Swanhild, the
daughter of Sigurd Fafnir's-bane ; and I know for sure that
she is the fairest may dwelling under the sun of this world ;
her above all others would I have to my wife, and thou
shalt go woo her for me."

Randver answered, **Meet and right, fair lord, that I
should go on thine errands."

So the king set forth this journey in seemly wise, and
they fare till they come to King Jonakr's abode, and behold
Swanhild, and have many thoughts concerning the treasure
of her goodliness.

But on a day Randver called the king to talk with
him, and said, '*Jormunrek the King would fain be thy
brother-in-law, for he has heard tell of Swanhild, and his
desire it is to have her to wife, nor may it be shown that
she may be given to any mightier man than he is one."

The King says, ** This is an alliance of great honour, for
a man of fame he is.''

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f,

VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 153

Gudrun says, " A wavering trust, the trust in luck that
it change not ! "

Yet because of the king's furthering, and all the matters
that went herewith, is the wooing accomplished; and
Swanhild went to the ship with a goodly company, and sat
in the stem beside the king's son.

Then spake Bikki to Randver, " How good and right it
were if thou thyself had to wife so lovely a woman rather
than the old man there."

Good seemed that word to the heart of the king's son,
and he spake to her with sweet words, and she to him
in like wise.

So they came aland and go unto the king, and Bikki said
unto him, "Meet and right it is, lord, that thou shouldst
know what is befallen, though hard it be to tell of, for the
tale must be concerning thy beguiling, whereas thy son has
gotten to him the full love of Swanhild, nor is she other
than his harlot ; but thou, let not the deed be unavenged."

Now many an ill rede had he given the king or this,
but of all his ill redes did this sting home the most ; and
still would the king hearken to all his evil redes; where-
fore he, who might nowise still the wrath within him,
cried out that' Randver should be taken and tied up to
the gallows-tree.

And as he was led to the gallows he took his hawjc
and plucked the feathers from off it, and bade show it
to his father; and when the king saw it, then he said,
"Now may folk behold that he deemeth my honour
to be gone away from me, even as the feathers of this
hawk;" and therewith he bade deliver him from the
gallows.

But in that while had Bikki wrought his will, and
Randver was dead-slain.

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154 THE STORY OF THE

And, moreover, Bikki spake, "Against none hast thou
more wrongs to avenge thee of than against Swanhild ; let
her die a shameful death."

" Yea," said the king, " we will do after thy counsel."
So she was bound in the gate of the burg, and horses
were driven at her to tread her down; but when she
opened her eyes wide, then the horses durst not trample
her ; so when Bikki beheld that, he bade draw a bag over
the head of her ; and they did so, and therewith she lost
her life.*

* In the prose Edda the slaying of Swanhild is a spontaneous and
sudden act on the part of the king. As he came back from hunting one
day, there sat Swanhild washing her linen, and it came into the king's
mind how that she was the cause of all bis woe, so he and his men rode
over her and slew her. — 7>,

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBL UNGS. 1 55

CHAP. XLII.

Gudrun sends her Sons to avenge Swanhild.

IVrOW Gudrun heard of the slaying of Swanhild, and
^ ^ spake to her sons, " Why sit ye here in peace amid
merry words, whereas Jormunrek hath slain your sister, and
trodden her under foot of horses in shameful wise ? No
heart ye have in you like to Gunnar or Hogni ; verily they
would have avenged their kinswoman ! "

Hamdir answered, " Little didst thou praise Gunnar and
Hogni, whereas they slew Sigurd, and thou wert reddened
in the blood of him, and ill were thy brethren avenged by
the slaying of thine own sons : yet not so ill a deed were it
for us to slay King Jormunrek, and so hard thou pushest
us on to this that we may naught abide thy hard words."

Gudrun went about laughing now, and gave them to
drink from mighty beakers, and thereafter she got for them
great byrnies and good, and all other weed* of war.

Then spake Hamdir, " Lo now, this is our last parting,
for thou shalt hear tidings of us, and drink one grave-ale t
over us and over Swanhild.''

So therewith they went their ways.

* Weed (A. S. weodo\ clothing. t Grave-ale, burial-feast.

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156 THE STORY OF THE

But Gudrun went unto her bower, with heart swollen
with sorrow, and spake —

"To three men was I wedded, and first to Sigurd
Fafnir's-bane, and he was bewrayed and slain, and of all
griefs was that the greatest grief. Then was I given to
King Atli, and so fell was my heart toward him that I slew
in the fury of my grief his children and mine. Then gave
I myself to the sea, but the billows thereof cast me out
aland, and to this king then was I given; then gave I
Swanhild away out of the land with mighty wealth ; and lo
my next greatest sorrow after Sigurd, for under horses' feet
was she trodden and slain ; but the grimmest and ugliest of
woes was the casting of Gunnar into the Worm-close, and
the hardest was the cutting of Hogni's heart from him.

** Ah, better would it be if Sigurd came to meet me, and
I went my ways with him, for here bideth now behind with
me neither son nor daughter to comfort me. Oh, mindest
thou not, Sigurd, the words we spoke when we went into
one bed together, that thou wouldst come and look on me ;
yea, even from thine abiding place among the dead ? "

And thus had the words of her sorrow an end.

\

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VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS. 157

CHAP. XLTIT.

The Latter End of all the Kin of the Gtukings,

TVrOW telleth the tale concerning the sons of Gudrun,
•^^ that she had arrayed their war-raiment in such
wise, that no steel would bite thereon ; and she bade them
play not with stones or other heavy matters, for that it
would be to their scathe if they did so.

And now, as they went on their way, they met Erp,
their brother, and asked him in what wise he would help
them.

He answered, " Even as hand helps hand, or foot helps
foot."

But that they deemed naught at all, and slew him there
and then. Then they went their ways, tior was it long or
ever Hamdir stumbled, and thrust down his hand to
steady himself, and spake therewith —

" Naught but a true thing spake Erp, for now should I
have fallen, had not hand been to steady me."

A little after Sorli stumbled, but turned about on his
feet, and so stood, and spake —

" Yea now had I fallen, but that I steadied myself with
both feet"

And they said they had done evilly with Erp their
brother.

But on they fare till they come to the abode of King

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158 THE STORY OF THE

Jormunrek, and they went up to him and set on him
forthwith, and Hamdir cut both hands from him and Sorli
both feet. Then spake Hamdir —

**Off were the head if Erp were alive; our brother,
whom we slew on the way, and found out our deed too
late." Even as the Song says, —

Off were the head
If Erp were alive yet,
Our brother the bold.
Whom we slew by the way.
The well-famed in warfare.

Now in this must they turn away from the words of
their mother, whereas they had to deal with stones. For
now men fell on them, and they defended themselves in
good and manly wise, and were the scathe of many a man,
nor would iron bite on them.

But there came thereto a certain man, old of aspect
and one-eyed,* and he spake —

**No wise men are ye, wh,ereas ye cannot bring these
men to their end."

Then the king said, '*Give us rede thereto, if thou
canst."

He said, " Smite them to the death with stones."

In such wise was it done, for the stones flew thick
and fast from every side, and that was the end of their
life-days.

And now has come to an end the whole root and stem
of the Giukings.t

* Odin ; he ends the tale as he began it.

t ** And now," etc., inserted by translators from the prose Edda ;
the stanza at the end from the Whetting of Gudnin.

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VOLSUNGS AND NIB LUNGS. 159

Now MAY ALL EARLS

Be bettered in mind,

May the grief of all maidens

Ever be minished,

For this tale of trouble

So told to its ending.

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CERTAIN SONGS

FROM

THE ELDER EDDA,

WHICH DEAL WITH THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS.

ooii

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i63

PART OF THE SECOND LAY OF
HELGI HUNDING'S-BANE.*

TTELGI wedded Sigrun, and they begat sons together,
-*■ -*■ but Helgi lived not to be old ; for l)ag,t the son
of Hogni, sacrificed to Odin, praying that he might avenge
his father. So Odin lent Dag his spear, and Dag met
Helgi, his brother-in-law, at a place called Fetter-grove,
and thrust him through with that spear, and there fell
Helgi dead ; but Dag rode to Sevafell, and told Sigrun of
the news.

Loth am I, sister,

Of sorrow to tell thee.

For by hard need driven

Have I drawn on thee greeting 3

This morning fell

In Fetter-grove

The king well deemed

The best in the wide world,

Yea, he who stood

On the necks of the strong.

* Only that part of the song is given which completes the episode of
Helgi Hunding's-bane ; the earlier part of the song diflfers little from
the Saga.

+ Hogni, the father of Dag and Sigrun, had been slain by Helgi in
battle, and Helgi had given peace to, and taken oaths of Dag.

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i64 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Sigrun.

All oaths once sworn
Shall bite thee sore,
The oaths that to Hejgi
Once thou swarest
At the bright white
Water of Lightening,*
And at the cold rock
That the sea runneth over.

May the ship sweep not on
That should sweep at its swiftest,
Though the wind desired
Behind thee driveth I
May the horse never run
That should run at his most might
When from thy foe's face
Thou hast most need to flee !

May the sword never bite
That thou drawest from scabbard,
But and if round thine head
In wrath it singeth !

Then should meet price be paid
For Helgi's slaying
When a wolf thou wert
Out in the wild-wood,

* One of the rivers of the under- world.

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THE LA Y OF HELGL 165

Empty of good things,
Empty of gladness,
With no meat for thy mouth
But dead men's corpses !

Dag.

With mad words thou ravest,
Thy wits are gone from thee,
When thou for thy brother
Such ill fate biddest ;
Odin alone

Let all this bale loose,
Casting the strife-runes
'Twixt friends and kindred.

Rings of red gold
Will thy brother give thee,
And the stead of Vandil
And the lands of Vigdale \
Have half of the land
For thy sorrow's healing,
O ring-arrayed sweetling
For thee and thy sons !

Sigrun.

No more sit I happy
At Sevafell ;
%.t day-dawn, at night
Naught love I my life
Till broad o'er the people
My lord's light breaketh ;

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166 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Till his war-horse runneth
Beneath him hither,
Well wont to the gold bit —
Till my king I welcome.

In such wise did Helgi
Deal fear around
To all his foes
And all their friends
As when the goat runneth
Before the wolfs rage
Filled with mad fear
Down from the fell

As high above all lords

Did Helgi bear him

As the ash-tree*s glory

From the thorn ariseth,

Or as the fawn

With the dew-fall sprinkled

Is far above

All other wild things, •

As his horns go gleaming

'Gainst the very heavens.

A barrow was raised above Helgi, but when h^ came to
Valhall, then Odin bade him be lord of all things there,
even as he ; so Helgi sang —

Now shalt thou, Hunding, *
For the help of each man
Get ready the foot-bath,
And kindle the fire \

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i

THE LA Y OF HELGl 167

The hounds shalt thou bind

And give heed to the horses,

Give wash to the swine

Ere to sleep thou goest "^

A bondmaid of Sigrun went in the evening-tide by
Helgi's mound, and there she saw how Helgi rode toward
it with a great company ; then she sang —

It is vain things* beguiling
That methinks I behold,
Or the ending of all things,
As ye ride, O ye dead men,
Smiting with spurs
Your horses' sides ?
Or may dead warriors
Wend their ways homeward ?

The Dead.

No vain things' beguiling

Is that thou beholdest,

Nor the ruin of all things ;

Though thou lookest upon us,

Though we smite with spurs

Our horses' sides ;

Rather dead warriors

May wend their ways homeward.

Then went the bondmaid home, and told Sigrun, and
sang —

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i68 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

m

Go out, Signin
From Sevafell,
If thou listest to look on
^ The lord of thy people !

For the mound is uncovered
Thither is Helgi come,
And his wounds are bleeding,
But the king thee biddeth
To come and -stay
That stream of sorrow.

So Sigrun went into the mound to Helgi, and sang-

Now am I as fain

Of this fair meeting,

As are the hungry

Hawks of Odin,

When they wot of the slaying

Of the yet warm quarry,

Or bright with dew

See the day a-dawning.

Ah, I will kiss

My king laid lifeless,

Ere thou castest by

Thy blood-stained byrny.

O Helgi, thy hair

Is thick with death's rime,

With the dew of the dead

Is my love all dripping ;

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THE LA Y OF HELGL 169

Dead-cold are the hands
Of the son of Hogni !
How for thee, O my king,
May I win healing ?

Helgi,

Thou alone, Sigrun
Of Sevafell,

Hast so done that Helgi
With griefs dew drippeth \
O clad in gold
Cruel tears thou weepest.
Bright May of the Southlands,
Or ever thou sleepest :
Each tear in blood falleth
On the breast of thy lord,
Cold-wet and bitter-sharp
Swollen with sorrow.

Ah, we shall drink
Dear draughts and lovely,
Though we have lost
Both life and lands ;
Neither shall any
Sing song of sorrow,
Though in my breast
Be wounds wide to behold :
For now are brides
In the mound abiding ;
Kings' daughters sit
By us departed.

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170 SOATGS FROM THE EDDA.

Now Sigran arrayed a bed in the mound, and sang :

Here, Helgi, for thee
A bed have I dight,
Kind without woe,
Okinofthe Ylfings!
To thy bosom, O king,
Will I come and sleep soft,
As I was wont
When my lord was living.

Now will I call

Naught not to be hoped for

Early or late

At Sevafell,

When thou in the arms

Of a dead man art laid,

White maiden of Hogni,

Here in the mound :

And thou yet quick,

O King's daughter I

Now needs must I ride
On the reddening ways ;
My pale horse must tread
The highway aloft :
West must I go
To Windhelm's bridge
Ere the war-winning crowd
*Hall-crower waketh.

* Hall-crower, SaigoftUr: lit. Hall-gaper, the cock of ValhaH

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«

THE LA Y OF HELGL 171

So Helgi rode his ways : and the others gat them gone
home to the house. But the next night Sigrun bade the
bondwoman have heed of the mound. So at nightfall,
whenas Sigrun came to the mound, she sang :

Here now would he come,

If to come he were minded ;

Sigmund's offspring

From the halls of Odin,

O me the hope waneth

Of Helgi's coming;

For high on the ash-boughs

Are the ernes abiding.

And all folk drift

Toward the Thing of the dreamland.

The Bondmaid,

Be not fooHsh of heart,
And fare all alone
To the house of the dead,
O Hero's daughter !
For more strong and dreadful
In the night season
Are all dead warriors
, Than in the daylight.

But a little while hved Sigrun, because of her sorrow and
trouble. But in old time folk trowed that men should be
bom again, though their troth be now deemed but an old
wife's doting. And so, as folk say, Helgi and Sigrun were
bom again, and at that tide was he called Helgi the Scathe
of Hadding, and she Kara the daughter of Halfdan ; and
she was a Valkyria, even as is said in the Lay of Kara.

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1^2

PART OF THE LAY OF SIGRDRIFA.^

Now this is my first counsel,

That thou with thy kin
Be guiltless, guileless ever,

Nor hasty of wrath,

Despite of wrong done —
Unto the dead good that doeth.

Lo the second counsel,

That oath thou swearest never.
But trusty oath and true :

Grim tormenting

Gripes troth-breakers ;
Cursed wretch is the wolf of vows.

This is my third rede,

That thou at the Thing
Deal not with the fools of folk ;

For unwise man

From mouth lets fall
Worser word than well he wotteth.

* This continues the first part of the lay given in Chap. xx. of the
Saga ; and is, in fact, the original verse of Chap. xxi.

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THE LA Y OF SIGRDRIFA, 173

Yet hard it is

That holding of peace
When men shall deem thee dastard,
Or deem the lie said soothly ;
But woeful is home-witness,
Unless right good thou gettest it.

Ah, on another day

Drive the life from out him,
And pay the liar back for his lying.

Now behold the fourth rede :
If ill witch thee bideth,

Woe-begetting by the way,
Good going further
Rather than guesting,

Though thick night be on thee.

Far-seeing eyes
Need all sons of men

Who wend in wrath to war ;
For baleful women
Bide oft by the highway,

Swords and hearts to soften.

And now the fifth rede :

As fair as thou seest
Brides on the bench abiding,

Let not love's silver

Rule over thy sleeping ;
Draw no woman to kind kissins; !

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174 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

For the sixth thing, I rede
When men sit a-drinking

Amid ale-words and ill-words,
Deal thou naught
With the drunken fight-staves,

For wine stealeth wit from many.

Brawling and drink

Have brought unto men
Sorrow sore oft enow 3

Yea, bane unto some,

And to some weary bale ;
Many are the griefs of mankind.

For the seventh, I rede thee,

If strife thou raisest
With a man right high of heart,

Better fight a-field

Than bum in the fire
Within thine hall fair to behold.

The eighth rede that I give thee :

Unto all ill look thou.
And hold thine heart from all beguiling;

Draw to thee no maiden,

No man's wife bewray thou.
Urge them not unto unmeet pleasure.

This is the ninth counsel :

That thou have heed of dead folk
Whereso thou findest them a-field ;

Be they sick-dead,

Be they sea-dead,
Or come to ending by war-weapons.

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THE LA Y OF SIGHDHIFA. 175

- Let bath be made

For such men fordone,
Wash thou hands and feet thereof,

Comb their hair and dry them

Ere the coffin has them ;
Then bid them sleep full sweetly.

This for the tenth counsel :

That thou give trust never
Unto oaths of foeman's kin,
Be'st thou bane of his brother,
Or hast thou felled his father ;
Wolf in young son waxes,
Though he with gold be gladdened.

For wrong and hatred

Shall rest them never,
Nay, nor sore sorrow.

Both wit and weapons

Well must the king have
Who is fain to be the foremost.

The last rede and eleventh :

Until all ill look thou,
And watch thy friends' ways ever.

Scarce durst I look

For long life for thee, king :
Strong trouble ariseth now already.

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176

THE LAY CALLED THE SHORT
LAY OF SIGURD,

Sigurd of yore,

Sought the dwelling of Giuki,

As he fared, the young Volsung,

After fight won ;

Troth he took

From the two brethren ;

Oath swore they betwixt them,

Those bold ones of deed.

A may they gave to him
And wealth manifold,
Gudrun the young,
Giuki's daughter :
They drank and gave doom
Many days together,
Sigurd the young,
And the sons of Giuki.

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THE LA y OF SIGUEjD. 177

Until they wended
For Brynhild's wooing,
Sigurd a-riding
Amidst their rout ;
The wise young Volsung
Who knew of all ways —
Ah ! he had wed her,
Had fate so willed it.

Southlander Sigurd

A naked sword,

Bright, well grinded,

Laid betwixt them ;

No kiss he won

From the fair woman.

Nor in arms of his

Did the Hun King hold her,

Since he gat the young maid

For the son of Giuki.

No lack in her life
She wotted of now,
And at her death-day
No dreadful thing
For a shame indeed
Or a shame in seeming ;
But about and betwixt
Went baleful fate.

Alone, abroad,

She sat of an evening,

00 ij

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178 SOJVGS FROM THE EDDA

Of full many things
She fell a-talking :
" O for my Sigurd !
I shall have death,
Or my fair, my lovely,
Laid in mine arms.

" For the word once spoken,

I sorrow sorely —

His queen is Gudrun,

I am wed to Gunnar ;

The dread Norns wrought for us

A long while of woe."

Oft with heart deep
In dreadful thoughts,
O'er ice-fields and ice-hills
She fared a-night time,
When he and Gudrun
Were gone to their fair bed,
And Sigurd wrapped
The bed-gear round her.

" Ah ! now the Hun King
His queen in arms holdeth,
While love I go lacking.
And all things longed for
With no delight
But in dreadful thought."

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I

THE LA Y OF SIGURD, 179

These dreadful things
Thrust her toward murder :
— "Listen, Gunnar,
For thou shalt lose
My wide lands,
Yea, me myself !
Never love I my life.
With thee for my lord —

" I will fare back thither
From whence I came,
To my nighest kin
And those that know me
There shall I sit
Sleeping my life away,
Unless thou slayest
Sigurd the Hun King,
Making thy might more
E'en than his might was I

" Yea, let the son fare
After the father,
And no young wolf
A long while nourish !
For on each man lieth
Vengeance lighter.
And peace shall be surer
If the son live not."

Adrad was Gunnar,
Heavy-hearted was he,

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i8o SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

And in doubtful mood

Day-long he sat.

For naught he wotted,

Nor might see clearly

What was the seemliest

Of deeds to set hand to ;

What of all deeds

Was best to be done :

For he minded the vows

Sworn to the Volsung,

And the sore wrong

To be wrought against Sigurd.

Wavered his mind

A weary while,

No wont it was

Of those days worn by,

That queens should flee

From the realms of their kings.

" Brynhild to me

Is better than all,

The child of Budli

Is the best of women.

Yea, and my life

Will I lay down,

Ere I am twinned

From that woman's treasure."

He bade call Hogni

To the place where he bided ;

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THE LA Y OF SIGURD.

With all the trust that might be,
Trowed he in him.

i8i

" Wilt thou bewray Sigurd
For his wealth's sake ?
Good it is to rule
O'er the Rhine's metal ;
And well content
Great wealth to wield,
Biding in peace
And blissful days."

One thing alone Hogni
Had for an answer :
" Such doings for us
Are naught seemly to do ;
To rend with sword
Oaths once sworn,
Oaths once sworn,
And troth once plighted.

" Nor know we on mould,
Men of happier days,
The while we four
Rule over the folk ;
While the bold in battle.
The Hun King, bides living.

" And no nobler kin
Shall be known afield,
If our five sons
We long may foster ;

vGoode

' ^-

1 82 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Yea, a goodly stem

Shall surely wax.

— But I clearly see

In what wise it standelh,

Brynhild's sore urging

Overmuch on thee beareth.

" Guttorm shall we
Get for the slaying,
Our younger brother
Bare of wisdom ;
For he was out of
All the oaths sworn,
All the oaths sworn,
And the plighted troth."

Easy to rouse him
Who of naught recketh !
— Deep stood the sword
In the heart of Sigurd.

There, in the hall,

Gat the high-hearted vengeance ;

For he cast his sword

At the reckless slayer :

Out at Guttorm

Flew Gram the mighty,

The gleaming steel

From Sigurd's hand

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THE LA Y OF SIGURD. X83

Down fell the slayer

Smitten asunder \

The heavy head

And the hands fell one way,

But the feet and such like

Aback where they stood.

Gudrun was sleeping
Soft in the bed,
Empty of sorrow
By the side of Sigurd :
When she awoke
With all pleasure gone,
Swimming in blood
Of Frey*s beloved.

So sore her hands

She smote together.

That the great-hearted

Gat raised in bed ;

— " O Gudrun, weep not

So woefully,

Sweet lovely bride,

For thy brethren live for thee !

" A young child have I
For heritor ;
Too young to win forth
From the house of his foes. —

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x84 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Black deeds and ill
Have they been a-doing,
Evil rede
Have they wrought at last.

" Late, late, rideth with them
Unto the Thing,
Such sister's son.
Though seven thou bear, —
—But well I wot
Which way all goeth ;
Alone wrought Brynhild
This bale against us.

" That maiden loved me
Far before all men.
Yet wrong to Gunnar
I never wrought ;
Brotherhood I heeded
And all bounden oaths,
That none should deem me
His queen's darling.''

Weary sighed Gudrun,
As the king gat ending,
And so sore her hands
She smote together,
That the cups arow
Rang out therewith,
And the geese cried on high
That were in the homefield.

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THE LA Y OF SJGUJ^D. 185

Then laughed Brynhild^
BudU's daughter,
Once, once only.
From out her heart ;
When to her bed
Was borne the sound
Of the sore greeting
Of Giuki's daughter.

Then, quoth Gunnar,
The king, the hawk-bearer,
" Whereas, thou laughest,
O hateful woman.
Glad on thy bed,
No good it betokeneth ;
Why lackest thou else
Thy lovely hue ?
Feeder of foul deeds,
Fey do I deem thee,

"Well worthy art thou

Before all women,

That thine eyes should see

Atli slain of us ;

That thy brother's wounds

Thou shouldst see a-bleeding,

That his bloody hurts

Thine hands should bind."

" No man blameth thee, Gunnar, '
Thou hast fulfilled death's measure

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i86 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

But naught Atli leareth

All thine ill will ;

Life shall he lay down

Later than ye,

And still bear more might

Aloft than thy might

" [ shall tell thee, Gunnar,

Though well the tale thou knowcst,

In what early days

Ye dealt abroad your wrong :

Young was I then,

Worn with no woe.

Good wealth I had

In the house of my brother !

** No mind had I
That a man should have me,
Or ever ye Giukings,
Rode into our garth ;
There ye sat on your steeds
Three kings of the people —
— Ah 1 that that faring
Had never befallen !

'* Then spake Atli
To me apart,
And said that no wealth
He would give unto me,
Neither gold nor lands

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THE LA y OF SIGUJW. 187

If I would not be wedded ;
Nay, and no part
Of the wealth apportioned,
Which in my first days
He gave me duly ;
Which in my first days
He counted down.

" Wavered the mind

Within me then,

If to fight I should fall

And the felling of folk,

Bold in byrny

Because of my brother ;

A deed of fame

Had that been to all folk,

But to many a man

Sorrow of mind.

"So I let all sink
Into peace at the last :
More grew I minded
For the mighty treasure,
The red-shining rings
Of Sigmund's son ;
For no man's wealth else
Would I take unto me.

" For myself had I given
To that great king
Who sat amid gold
On the back of Grani j

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i88 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Nought were his eyen

Like to your eyen,

Nor in any wise

Went his visage with yours ;

Though ye might deem you

Due kings of men.

"One I loved,
One, and none other,
The gold-decked may
Had no doubtful mind \
Thereof shall Atli
Wot full surely,
When he getteth to know
I am gone to the dead.

" Far be it from me,
Feeble and wavering,
Ever to love
Another's love —
— ^Yet shall my woe
Be well avenged."

Up rose Gunnar,
The great men's leader,
And cast his arms
About the queen's neck \
And all went nigh
One after other.
With their whole hearts
Her heart to turn.

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THE LA y OF SIGURD. 189

But then all these
From her neck she thrust,
Of her long journey
No man should let her.

Then called he Hogni

To have talk with him :

** Let all folk go

Forth into the hall,

Thine with mine —

— O need sore and mighty ! —

To wot if we yet

My wife's parting may stay.

Till with time's wearing

Some hindrance wax."

One answer Hogni

Had for all ;

" Nay, let hard need

Have rule thereover,

And no man let her

Of her long journey !

Never born again,

May she come back thence !

" Luckless she came

To the lap of her mother,

Born into the world

For utter woe.

To many a man

For heart-whole mourning.'*

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I90 SOJVGS FROM THE EDDA,

Upraised he turned
From the talk and the trouble,
To where the gem-field
Dealt out goodly treasure ;
As she looked and beheld
All the wealth that she had,
And the hungry bondmaids.
And maids of the hall.

With no good in her heart
She donned her gold byrny,
Ere she thrust the sword-point
Through the midst of her body ;
On the bolster's far side
Sank she adown,
And, smitten with sword,
Still bethought her of redes.

** Let all come forth

Who are fain the red gold,

Or things less worthy

To win from my hands ;

To each one I give

A necklace gilt over.

Wrought hangings and bed-gear,

And bright woven weed."

All they kept silence,
And thought what to speak,
Then all at once
Answer gave :

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THE LA Y OF SIGURD, 191

" Full enow are death-doomed,
Fain are we to live yet,
Maids of the hall
All meet work winning."

From her wise heart at last
The linen-clad damsel.
The one of few years
Gave forth the word :
" I will that none driven
By hand or by word.
For our sake should lose
Well-loved life.

** Thou on the bones of you

Surely shall burn,

Less dear treasure

At your departing

Nor with Menia's Meal*

Shall ye come to see me."

'* Sit thee down, Gunnar,
A word must I say to thee
Of the life's ruin
Of thy lightsome bride —
— Nor shall thy ship
Swim soft and sweetly
For all that I
Lay life adown.

" Menia's Meal—" periphrasis for gold.

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192 SONGS FROM 7HE EDDA.

" Sooner than ye might deem
Shall ye make peace with Gudrun,
For the wise woman
Shall lull in the young wife
The hard memory
Of her dead husband.

*' There is a may born
Reared by her mother,
Whiter and brighter
Than is the bright day ;
She shall be Swanhild,
She shall be Sunbeam.

" Thou shalt give Gudrun

Unto a great one,

Noble, well-praised

Of the world's folk;

Not with her goodwill.

Or love shalt thou give her ;

Yet will Atli

Come to win her.

My very brother.

Bom of Budli.

— ** Ah ! many a memory
Of how ye dealt with me,
How sorely, how evilly
Ye ever beguiled me.
How all pleasure left me
The while my Ufe lasted ! —

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THE LA Y OF SIGURD, 193

" Fain wilt thou be
Oddrun to win,
But thy good liking
Shall Atli let \
But in secret wise
Shall ye win together,
And she shall love thee
As I had loved thee,
If in such wise
Fate had willed it.

" But with all ill
Shall Atli sting thee,
Into the strait worm-close
Shall he cast thee.

" But no long space

Shall slip away

Ere Atli too

All life shall lose.

Yea, all his weal

With the life of his sons,

For a dreadful bed

Dights Gudrun for him,

From a heart sore laden,

With the sword's sharp edge.

" More seemly for Gudrun,
Your very sister,
In death to wend after
Her love first wed ;

0013

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194 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Had but good rede

To her been given,

Or if her heart

Had been like to my heart,

— " Faint my speech groweth-
But for our sake
Ne'er shall she lose
Her life beloved ;
The sea shall have her,
High billows bear her
Forth unto Jonakr's
Fair land of his fathers.

*' There shall she bear sons,
Stays of a heritage,
Stays of a heritage,
Jonakr's sons ;
And Swanhild shall she
Send from the land,
That may bom of her,
The may bom of Sigiu-d.

" Her shaU bite
The rede of Bikki,
Whereas for no good
Wins Jormunrek life ;
And so is clean perished
All the kin of Sigurd,
Yea, and more greeting,
And more for Gudrun.

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THE LA y OF SIGURD, 195

" And now one prayer
Yet pray I of thee —
The last word of mine
Here in the world —
So broad on the field
Be the burg of the dead
That fair space may be left
For us all to He down,
All those that died
At Sigurd's death !

" Hang round that burg
Fair hangings and shields,
Web by Gauls woven,
And folk of the Gauls :
There burn the Hun King
Lying beside me.

" But on the other side
Burn by the Hun King
Those who served me
Strewn with treasure ;
Two at the head,
And two at the feet,
Two hounds therewith,
And two hawks moreover :
Then is all dealt
With even dealing.

" Lay there amidst us
The ring-dight metal,

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196 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

The sharp-edged steel,

That so lay erst ;

When we both together

Into one bed went,

And were called by the name

Of man and wife.

" Never, then, belike
Shall clash behind him
Valhall's bright door
With rings bedight :
And if my fellowship
Followeth after,
In no wretched wise
Then shall we wend.

" For him shall follow
My five bondmaids,
My eight bondsmen,
No borel folk :
Yea, and my fosterer.
And my father's dower
That Budli of old days
Gave to his dear child.

*' Much have I spoken.

More would I speak,

If the sword would give me

Space for speech ;

But my words are waning.

My wounds are swelling —

Naught but truth have I told-

— And now make I ending."

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197

THE HELL-RIDE OF BRYNHILD.

A FTER the death of Brynhild were made two bales, one
^^~^ for Sigurd, and that was first burned ; but Brynhild
was burned on the other, and she was in a chariot hung
about with goodly hangings.

And so folk say that Brynhild drave in her chariot down
along the way to Hell, and passed by an abode where dwelt
a certain giantess, and the giantess spake : —

" Nay, with my goodwill
Never goest thou
Through this stone-pillared
Stead of mine !
More seemly for thee
To sit sewing the cloth,
Than to go look on
The love of another.

" What dost thou, going
From the land of the Gauls,
O restless head,
To this mine house ?

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198 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Golden girl, hast thou not,
If thou listest to hearken,
In sweet wise from thy hands
The blood of men washen ? "

Brynhild,

" Nay, blame me naught,
Bride of the rock-hall,
Though I roved a warring
In the days that were ;
The higher of us twain
Shall I ever be holden
When of our kind
Men make account"

The Giant-woman,

"Thou, O Brynhild,
Budli's daughter,
Wert the worst ever born
Into the world :
For Giuki's children
Death hast thou gotten,
And turned to destruction
Their goodly dwelling."

Brynhild,

" I shall tell thee
True tale from my chariot,
O thou who naught wottest,
If thou listest to wot ;

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THE HELL-RIDE OF BRYNHILD. 199

How for me they have gotten
Those heirs of Giuki,
A loveless life,
A life of lies.

" Hild under helm,
The Hl)rmdale people,
E'en those who knew me,
Ever would call me.

" The changeful shapes

Of us eight sisters,

The wise king bade

Under oak-tree to bear :

Of twelve winters was I,

If thou listest to wot,

When I sware to the young lord

Oaths of love.

** Thereafter gat I
Mid the folk of the Goths,
For Helmgunnar the old,
Swift journey to Hell,
And gave to Aud's brother
The young, gain and glory ;
Whereof overwrath
Waxed Odin with me.

" So he shut me in shield- wall
In Skata grove,
Red shields and white
Close set around me ;

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200 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

And bade him alone
My slumber to break
Who in no land
Knew how to fear.

'* He set round my hall,
Toward the south quarter,
The Bane of all trees
Burnmg aloft ;
And ruled that he only
Thereover should ride
Who should bring me the gold
O'er which Fafnir brooded.

" Then upon Grani rode
The goodly gold-strewer
To where my fosterer
Ruled his fair dwelling.
He who alone there
Was deemed best of all,
The War-lord of the Danes,
Well worthy of men.

" In peace did we sleep

Soft in one bed,

As though he had been

Naught but my brother :

There as we lay

Through eight nights wearing,

No hand in love

On each other we laid.

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THE HELL-RIDE OF BRYNHILD. 201

" Yet thence blamed me, Gudrun,

Giuki's daughter,

That I had slept

In the arms of Sigurd ;

And then I wotted

As I fain had not wotted,

That they had bewrayed me

In my betrothals.

" Ah ! for unrest

All too long

Are men and women

Made alive !

Yet we twain together

Shall wear through the ages,

Sigurd and I. —

— Sink adown, O giant-wife I "

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202

FRAGMENTS OF THE LAY OF
BRYNHILD.

Hogni said.

What hath wrought Sigurd
Of any wrong-doing
That the life of the famed one
Thou art fain of taking?

Gunnar said.

To me has Sigurd
Sworn many oaths,
Sworn many oaths,
And sworn them lying,
And he bewrayed me
When it behoved him
Of all folk to his troth
To be the most trusty

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THE LA Y OF BR YNHILD, 203

Hogni said.

Thee hath Brynhild
Unto all bale,
And all hate whetted,
And a work of sorrow ;
For she grudges to Gudrun
All goodly life ;
And to thee the bliss
Of her very body.

Some the wolf roasted.
Some minced the worm,
Some unto Guttorm
Gave the wolf-meat,
Or ever they might
In their lust for murder
On the high king
Lay deadly hand.

Sigurd lay slain
On the south of the Rhine.
High from the fair tree
Croaked forth the raven,
"Ah, yet shall Atli
On you redden edges.
The old oaths shall weigh
On your souls, O warriors."

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204 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

Without stood Gudrun,

Giuki's daughter,

And the first word she said

Was even this word :

"Where then is Sigurd,

Lord ofthe Warfolk,

Since my kin

Come riding the foremost ? "

One word Hogni

Had for an answer :

" Our swords have smitten

Sigurd asunder,

And the grey horse hangs drooping

O'er his lord lying dead."

Then quoth Brynhild,
Budli's daughter ;
" Good weal shall ye have
Of weapons and lands,
That Sigurd alone
Would surely have ruled
If he had lived
But a little longer.

" Ah, nothing seemly
For Sigurd to rule
Giuki's house
And the folk of the Goths,
When of him five sons
For the slaying of men,

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THE LA Y OF BR YNHILD, 205

Eager for battle

Should have been begotten ! "

Then laughed Brynhild —

Loud rang the whole house —

One laugh only

From out her heart :

" Long shall your bliss be

Of lands and people,

Whereas the famed lord

You have felled to the earth I "

Then spake Gudrun,
Giuki's daughter ;
" Much thou speakest,
Many things fearful,
All grame be on Gunnar
The bane of Sigurd !
From a heart full of hate
Shall come heavy vengeance. ''

Forth sped the even
Enow there was drunken,
Full enow was there
Of all soft speech ;
And all men got sleep
When to bed they were gotten ;
Gunnar only lay waking
Long after all men.

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2o6 SOJVGS FROM THE EJDDA,

His feet fell he to moving,

Fell, to speak to himself

The waster of men,

Still turned in his mind

What on the bough

Those twain would be saying,

The raven and erne.

As they rode their ways homeward.

But Brynhild awoke,

Budli's daughter,

May of the shield-folk,

A little ere morning ;

" Thrust ye on, hold ye back,

— Now all harm is wrought, —

To tell of my sorrow.

Or to let all slip by me ? "

All kept silence
After her speaking,
None might know
That woman's mind,
Or why she must weep
To tell of the work
That laughing once
Of men she prayed.

Brynhild spake.

In dreams, O Gunnar,
Grim things fell on me 3
Dead-cold the hall was,
And my bed was a-cold,

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THE LA Y OF BR YNHILD. 207

And thou, lord, wert riding

Reft of all bliss.

Laden with fetters

'Mid the host of thy foemen.

So now all ye,
O House of the Niblungs,
Shall be brought to naught,
O ye oath-breakers I

ThinVst thou not, Gunnar,
How that betid,
When ye let the blood run
Both in one footstep ?
With ill reward
Hast thou rewarded
His heart so fain
To be the foremost I

As well was seen
When he rode his ways.
That king of all worth,
Unto my wooing ;
How the host-destroyer
Held to the vows
Sworn beforetime,
Sworn to the young king.

For his wounding-wand
All wrought with gold,
The king beloved
Laid between us ;

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2o8 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Without were its edges
Wrought with fire,
But with venom-drops
Deep dyed within.

Thus this song telleth of the death of Sigurd, and
setteth forth how that they slew him without doors ; but
some say that they slew him within doors, sleeping in
his bed. But the Dutch Folk say that they slew him
out in the wood : and so sayeth the ancient song of
Gudrun, that Sigurd and the ' sons of Giuki were riding
to the Thing whenas he was slain. But all with one
accord say that they bewrayed him in their troth with
him, and fell on him as he lay unarrayed and unawares.

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209

THE SECOND OR ANCIENT LAY
OF GUDRUN.

T^HIODREK the King was in AtH's house, and had lost
-*• there the more part of his men : so there Thiodrek
and Gudrun bewailed their troubles one to the other, and
she spake and said : —

A may of all mays
My mother r^red me
Bright in bower;
Well loved I my brethren.
Until that Giuki
With gold arrayed me,
With gold arrayed me.
And gave me to Sigurd,

Such was my Sigurd,
Among the sons of Giuki
As is the green leek
O'er the low grass waxen,

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210 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

Or a hart high-limbed
Over hurrying deer,
Or glede-red gold
Over grey silver.

Till me they begrudged,
Those my brethren.
The fate to have him,
Who was first of all men ;
Nor might they sleep,
Nor sit a-dooming,
Ere they let slay
My well-loved Sigurd.

Grani ran to the Thing,
There was clatter to hear,
But never came Sigurd
Himself thereunto ;
All the saddle-girt beasts
With blood were besprinkled,
As faint with the way
Neath the slayers they went.

Then greeting I went
With Grani to talk,
And with tear-furrowed cheeks
I bade him tell all ;
But drooping laid Grani,
His head in the grass,
For the steed well wotted
Of his master's slaying.

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ANCIENT LA Y OF GUDRVN 211

A long while I wandered,
Long my mind wavered,
Ere the kings I might ask
Concerning my king.

Then Gunnar hung head,
But Hogni told
Of the cruel slaying
Of my Sigurd :
" On the water's far side
Lies, smitten to death.
The bane of Guttorm
To the wolves given over.

" Goi look on Sigurd,

On the ways that go southward,

There shalt thou hear

The ernes high screaming,

The ravens a-croaking

As their meat they crave for ;

Thou shalt hear the wolves howUng

Over thine husband."

** How hast thou, Hogni,

The heart to tell me.

Me of joy made empty,

Of such misery ?

Thy wretched heart

May the ravens tear

Wide over the world.

With no men mayst thou wend

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212 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

One thing Hogni

Had for answer,

Fallen from his high heart,

Full of all trouble ;

** More greeting yet,

Gudrun, for thee,
If my heart the ravens
Should rend asunder 1 "

Thence I turned

From the talk and the trouble

To go a leasing*'

What the wolves had left me ;

No sigh I made

No smote hands together,

Nor did I wail

As other women

When I sat over

My Sigurd slain.

Night methought it,
And the moonless dark,
When I sat in sorrow
Over Sigurd :
Better than all things

1 deemed it would be
If they would let me
Cast my life by.

Or bum me up

As they bum the birch-wood.

• The original has " a vid lesa." " Leasing " is the word still used for
gleaning in many country sides in England.

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ANCIENT LA Y OF GUDRUN 213

From the fell I wandered
Five days together,
Until the high -hall
Of Half lay before me 3
Seven seasons there
I sat with Thora,
The daughter of Hacon,
Up in Denmark.

My heart to gladden
With gold she wrought
Southland halls
And swans of the Dane-folk \
There had we painted
The chiefs a-playing ;
Fair our hands wrought
Folk of the kings.

Red shields we did,-
Doughty knights of the Huns,
Hosts spear-dight, hosts helm-dight,
All a high king's fellows ;
And the ships of Sigmund
From the land swift sailing ;
Heads gilt over
And prows fair graven.

On the cloth we broidered
That tide of their battling,
Siggeir and Siggar,
South in Fion.

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214 SONGS FROM THE ED DA.

Then heard Grimhild,

The Queen of Gothland,

How I was abiding,

Weighed down with woe ;

And she thrust the cloth from her

And called to her sons,

And oft and eagerly

Asked them thereof,

Who for her son

Would their sister atone,

Who for her lord slain

Would lay down weregild.

Fain was Gunnar

Gold to lay down

All wrongs to atone for,

And Hogni in likewise ;

Then she asked who was fain

Of fariAg straightly.

The steed to saddle

To set forth the wain,

The horse to back.

And the hawk to fly,

To shoot forth the arrow

From out the yew-bow.

Valdarr the Dane-king
. Came with Jarisleif
Eymod the third went
Then went Jarizskar ;

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ANCIENT LA Y OF GUDRUN 215

In kingly wise

In they wended,

The host of the Longbeards ;

Red cloaks had they,

Bymies short-cut.

Helms strong hammered,

Girt with glaives,

And hair red-gleaming.

Each would give me

Gifts desired,

Gifts desired.

Speech dear to my heart,

If they might yet,

Despite my sorrow.

Win back my trust,

But in them nought I trusted

Then brought me Grimhild

A beaker to drink of,

Cold and bitter.

Wrong's memory to quench ;

Made great was that drink

With the might of the earth,

With the death-cold sea

And the blood that Son* holdeth.

On that horn's face were there
All the kin of letters
Cut aright and reddened.
How should I rede them rightly ?

* Son was the vessel into which was poured the blood of Quasir, the
God of Poetry .

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2i6 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

The ling-fish long
Of the land of Hadding,
Wheat-ears unshorn,
And wild things' inwards.

In that mead were mingled

Many ills together,

Blood of all the wood,

And brown-burnt acorns ;

The black dew of the hearth,*

And god-doomed dead beasts* inwards,

And the swine's liver sodden,

For wrongs late done that deadens.

Then waned my memory
When that was within me,
Of my lord 'mid the hall
By the iron laid low.
Three kings came
Before my knees
Ere she herself
Fell to speech with me.

" I will give to thee, Gudnui,

Gold to be glad with.

All the great wealth

Of thy father gone from us,

Rings of red gold

And the great hall of Lodver,

And all fair hangings left

By the king late fallen.

* This means soot.

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ANCIENT LA Y OF GUDRUN 217

" Maids of the Huns
Woven pictures to make,
And work fair in gold
Till thou deem'st thyself glad.
Alone shalt thou rule
O'er the riches of Budli,
Shalt be made great with gold,
And be given to Atli."

** Never will I
Wend to a husband,
Or wed the brother
Of Queen Brynhild ;
Naught it beseems me
With the son of Budli
Kin to bring forth,
Or to live and be merry."

" Nay, the high chiefs
Reward not with hatred,
For take heed that I
Was the first in this tale I
To thy heart shall it be
As if both these had life,
Sigurd and Sigmund,
When thou hast borne sons."

" Naught may I, Grimhild,
Seek after gladness,
Nor deem aught hopeful
Of any high warrior.

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2i8 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Since wolf and raven

Were friends together,

The greedy, the cruel,

O'er great Sigurd's heart-blood.''

" Of all men that can be

For the noblest of kin

This king have I found,

And the foremost of all ;

Him shalt thou have

Till with eld thou art heavy —

Be thou ever unwed,

If thou wilt naught of him ! "

" Nay, nay, bid me not
With thy words long abiding
To take unto me
That balefuUest kin ;
This king shall bid Gunnar
Be stung to his bane,
And shall cut the heart
From out of Hogni.

" Nor shall I leave life
Ere the keen lord,
The eager in sword-play,
My hand shall make end of

Grimhild a-weeping
Took up the word then,

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ANCIENT LA Y OF GUDRUN. 219

When the sore bale she wotted
Awaiting her sons,
And the bane hanging over
Her offspring beloved.

'* I will give thee, moreover,

Great lands, many men,

Wineberg and Valberg,

If thou wilt but have them 3

Hold them lifelong,

And live happy, O daughter ! "

"Then him must I take
From among kingly men,
'Gainst my heart's desire,
From the hands of my kinsfolk;
But no joy I look
To have from that lord :
Scarce may my brother's bane
Be a shield to my sons."

Soon was each warrior
Seen on his horse,
But the Gaulish women
Into wains were gotten \
Then seven days long
O'er a cold land we rode,
And for seven other
Clove we the sea-waves.
But with the third seven
O'er dry land we wended.

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220 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

There the gate-wardens

Of the burg, high and wide,

Unlocked the barriers

Ere the burg-garth we rode to. —

Atli woke me
When meseemed I was
Full evil of heart
For my kin dead slain.

" In such wise did the Noms
Wake me or now." —
Fain was he to know
Of this ill foreshowing —
"Thatmethought, O Gudrun,
Giuki's daughter,
That thou setst in my heart
A sword wrought for guile."

" For fires tokening I deem it
That dreaming of iron,
But for pride and for lust
The wrath of fair women
Against some bale
Belike, I shall bum thee
For thy solace and healing
Though hateful thou art."

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AJNCIENT LA Y OF GUDRUN. 231

" In the fair garth methought
Had saplings fallen
E'en such as I would
Should have waxen ever ;
Uprooted were these,
And reddened with blood,
And borne to the bench,
And folk bade me eat of them.

" Methought from my hand then
Went hawks a-flying
Lacking their meat
To the land of all ill;
Methought that their hearts
Mingled with honey,
Swollen with blood
I ate amid sorrow.

" Lo, next two whelps
From my hands I loosened,
Joyless were both,
And both a-howling ;
And now their flesh
Became naught but corpses.
Whereof must I eat
But sore against my will.*'

** O'er the prey of the fishers
Will folk give doom ;
From the bright white fish
The heads will they take \

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222 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Within a few nights,

Fey as they are,

A little ere day

Of that draught will they eat.''

Ne'er since lay I down,
Ne'er since would I sleep,
Hard of heart, in my bed : —
That deed have I to do.*

* The whole of this latter part is fragmentary and obscure ; there
seems wanting to two of the dreams some trivial interpretation by
Gudrun, like those given by H<^i to Kostbera in the Saga, of which
nature, of course, the interpretation contained in the last stanza but one
is, as we have rendered it : another rendering, from the different
reading of the earlier edition of Edda (G)penhagen, 1818) would
make this refer much more directly to the slaying of her sons by
Gudrun.

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223

THE SONG OF ATLL

GUDRUN, Giuki's daughter, avenged her brethren, as is
told far and wide : first she slew the sons of Atli, and
then Atli himself; and she burned the hall thereafter, and
all the household .with it: and about the^e matters is this
song made : —

In days long gone
Sent Atli to Gunnar
A crafty one riding,
Knefrud men called him ;
To Giuki's garth came he,
To the hall of Gunnar,
To the benches gay-dight.
And the gladsome drinking.

There drank the great folk
'Mid the guileful one's silence,
Drank wine in their fair hall :
The Huns' wrath they feared,
When Knefrud cried
In his cold voice.

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224 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

As he sat on the high seat,
That man of the Southland :

** Atli has sent me

Riding swift on his errands

On the bit-griping steed

Through dark woodways unbeaten,

To bid thee, King Gunnar,

Come to his fair bench

With helm well-adorned,

To the home of King Atli.

"Shields shall ye have there
And spears ashen-shafted,
Helms ruddy with gold,
And hosts of the Huns j
Saddle-gear silver-gilt,
Shirts red as blood,
The hedge of the warwife.
And horses bit-griping.

" And he saith he will give you
Gnitaheath widespread.
And whistling spears
And prows well-gilded,
Mighty wealth
With the stead of Danpi,
And that noble wood
Men name the Murkwood."

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SONG OF ATLL 225

Then Gunnar turned head

And spake unto Hogni :

** What rede from thee, high one,

Since such things we hear?

No gold know I

On Gnitaheath,

That we for our parts

Have not portion as great

" Seven halls we have
Fulfilled of swords,
And hilts of gold
Each sword there has ;
My horse is the best,
My blade is the keenest j
Fair my bow o'er the bench is.
Gleams my byrny with gold ;
Brightest helm, brightest shield.
From Kiar*s dwelling ere brought —
Better all things I have
Than all things of the Huns."

Hogni said,

" What mind has our sister
That a ring she hath sent us
In weed of wolves clad ?
Bids she not to be wary ?
For a wolfs hair I found
The fair ring wreathed about ;
Wolf beset shall the way be
If we wend on this errand."

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226 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

No sons whetted Gunnar,

Nor none of his kin,

Nor learned men nor wise men,

Nor such as were mighty.

Then spake Gunnar

E'en as a king should speak,

Glorious in mead-hall

From great heart and high :

'* Rise up now, Fiornir,
Forth down the benches
Let the gold-cups of great ones
Pass in hands of my good-men !
Well shall we drink wine.
Draughts dear to our hearts,
Though the last of all feasts
In our fair house this be !

" For the wolves shall rule
O'er the wealth of the Niblungs,
With the pine-woods' wardens
If Gunnar perish :
And the black-felled bears
With fierce teeth shall bite
For the glee of the dog-kind,
If again comes not Gunnar."

Then good men never shamed,

Greeting aloud,

Led the great king of men

From the garth of his home ;

And cried the fair son

Of Hogni the king :

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SONG OF ATLL 227

"Fare happy, O Lords,
Whereso your hearts lead you ! "

Then the bold knights
Let their bit-griping steeds
Wend swift o'er the fells,
Tread the murk-wood unknown,
All the Hunwood was shaking
As the hardy ones fared there ;
O'er the green meads they urged
Their steeds shy of the goad.

Then Atli's land saw they ;

Great towers and strong.

And the bold men of Bikki,

Aloft on the burg :

The Southland folks' hall

Set with benches about,

Dight with bucklers well bounden.

And bright white shining shields.

There drank Atli,
The awful Hun king.
Wine in his fair hall \
Without were the warders,
Gunnar's folk to have heed of,
I^est they had fared thither
With the whistling spear
War to wake 'gainst the king.

But first came their sister
As they came to the hall,

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228 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

Both her brethren she met,
With beer little gladdened :
" Bewrayed art thou, Gunnar !
What dost thou great king
To deal war to the Huns ?
Go thou swift from the hall !

** Better, brother, hadst thou
Fared here in thy byrny
Than with helm gaily dight
Looked on Atli's great house :
Thou hadst sat then in saddle
Through days bright with the sun
Fight to awaken
And fair fields to redden :

" O'er the folk fate makes pale
Should the Norn's tears have fallen,
The shield-mays of the Huns
Should have known of all sorrow \
And King Atli himself
To worm-close should be brought ;
But now is the worm-close
Kept but for thee."

Then spake Gunnar
Great 'mid the people :
"Over-late sister
The Niblungs to summon ;
A long way to seek
The helping of warriors,

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SONG OF ATLI. 229

The high lords unshamed,
From the hills of the Rhine ! "

Seven Hogni beat down

With his sword sharp-grinded,

And the eighth man he thrust

Amidst of the fire.

Ever so shall famed warrior

Fight with his foemen,

As Hogni fought

For the hand of Gunnar.

But on Gunnar they fell,
And set him in fetters,
And bound hard and fast
That friend of Burgundians ;
Then the warrior they asked
If he would buy life,
Buy Ufe with gold
That king of the Goths.

Nobly spake Gunnar,
Great lord of the Niblungs ;
" Hogni's bleeding heart first
Shall He in mine hand.
Cut from the breast
Of the bold-riding lord.
With bitter-sharp knife
From the son of the king." ,

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230 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

With guile the great one
Would they beguile,
On the wailing thrall
Laid they hand unwares,
And cut the heart
From out of Hjalli,
Laid it bleeding on trencher
And bare it to Gunnar.

" Here have I the heart
Of Hjalli the trembler,
Little like the heart
Of Hogni the hardy :
As much as it trembleth
Laid on the trencher,
By the half more it trembled
In the breast of him hidden.''

Then laughed Hogni
When they cut the heart from him,
From the crest-smith yet quick,
Little thought he to quail.
The hard acorn of thought
From the high king they took.
Laid it bleeding on trencher
And bare it Gunnar.

** Here have I the heart
Of Hogni the hardy,
Little Hke to the heart
Of Hjalli the trembler.

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SONG OF ATLl JJ31

Howso little it quaketh
Laid here on the dish,
Yet far less it quaked
In the breast of him laid.

" So far mayst thou bide
From men's eyen, O Atli,
As from that treasure
Thou shalt abide I

" Behold in my heart
Is hidden for ever
That hoard of the Niblungs,
Now Hogni is dead.
Doubt threw me two ways
While the twain of us lived,
But all that is gone
Now I live on alone.

" The great Rhine shall rule
O'er the hate-raising treasure,
That gold of the Niblungs,
The seed of the gods :
In the weltering water
Shall that wealth lie a-gleaming,
Or it shine on the hands
Of the children of Huns 1 "

Then cried Atli,

King of the Hun-folk,

** Drive forth your wains now

The slave is fast bounden."

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232 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

And straightly thence
The bit-shaking steeds
Drew the hoard-warden,
The war-god to his death.

Atli the great king,
Rode upon Glaum,
With shields set round about,
And sharp thorns of battle :
Gudrun, bound by wedlock
To these, victory made gods of,
Held back her tears
As the hall she ran into.

" Let it fare with thee, Atli,
E'en after thine oaths sworn
To Gunnar full often ;
Yea, oaths sworn of old time,
By the sun sloping southward.
By the high burg of Sigty,
By the fair bed of rest.
By the red ring of UUr'

Now a host of men
Cast the high king alive
Into a close
Crept o'er within
With most foul worms.
Fulfilled of all venom.
Ready grave to dig
In his doughty heart

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SONG OF ATLL 233

Wrathful-hearted he smote
The harp with his hand,
Gunnar laid there alone ;
And loud rang the strings. —
In such wise ever
Should hardy ring-scatterer
Keep gold from all folk
In the garth of his foemen.

Then Atli would wend
About his wide land,
On his steed brazen-shod,
Back from the murder.
Din there was in the garth,
All thronged with the horses ;
High the weapon-song rose
From men come from the heath.

Out then went Gudrun,
'Gainst Atli returning.
With a cup gilded over,
To greet the land's ruler ;
" Come, then, and take it,
King glad in thine hall,
From Gudrun's hands,
For the hell-farers groan not ! '

Clashed the beakers of Atli,
Wine-laden on bench,
As in hall there a-gathered.
The Huns feU a-talking.

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234 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

And the long-bearded eager ones
Entered therein,
From a murk den new-come,
From the murder of Gunnar.

Then hastened the sweet-faced
DeHght of the shield-folk,
Bright in the fair hall,
Wine to bear to them :
The dreadful woman
Gave dainties withal
To the lords pale with fate,
Laid strange word upon Atli :

"The hearts of thy sons
Hast thou eaten, sword-dealer,
All bloody with death •

And drenched with honey :
In most heavy mood
Brood o'er venison of men !
Drink rich draughts therewith,
Down the hiofh benches send it !

" Never callest thou now
From henceforth to thy knee
Fair Erp or fair Eitil,
Bright-faced with the drink ;
Never seest thou them now
Amidmost the seat.
Scattering the gold.
Or shafting of spears ;

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SONG OF ATLL 235

Manes trimming duly,
Or driving steeds forth I "

Din arose from the benches,
Dread song of men was there,
Noise 'mid the fair hangings,
As all Hun's children wept ;
All saving Gudrun,
Who never gat greeting.
For her brethren bear-hardy,
For her sweet sons and bright,
The young ones, the simple
Once gotten with Atli.

The seed of gold

Sowed the swan-bright woman,

Rings of red gold

She gave to the house-carls ;

Fate let she wax.

Let the bright gold flow forth,

In naught spared that woman

The store-houses' wealth*

Atli unaware

Was a- weary with drink ;

No weapon had he,

No heeding of Gudrun —

Ah, the play would be better,

When in soft wise they twain

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236 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

Would full often embrace
Before the great lords !

To the bed with sword-point
Blood gave she to drink
With a hand fain of death,
And she let the dogs loose :
Then in from the hall-door —
— Up waked the house-carls —
Hot brands she cast,
Gat revenge for her brethren.

To the flame gave she all
Who therein might be found ;
Fell adown the old timbers,
Reeked all treasure-houses ;
There the shield-mays were burnt.
Their lives' span brought to naught ;
In the fierce fire sank down
All the stead of the Budlungs.

Wide told of is this —
Ne'er sithence in the world,
Thus fared bride clad in byrny
For her brothers' avenging ;
For behold, this fair woman
To three kings of the people,
Hath brought very death
Or ever she died I

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237

THE WHETTING OF GUDRUN.

/^UDRUN went down unto the sea whenas she had
^-^ slain Atli, and she cast herself therein, for she was
fain to end her life : but nowise might -she drown. She
drave over the firths to the land of King Jonakr, and he
wedded her, and their sons were Sorli, and Erp, and Hamdir,
and there was Swanhild, Sigurd's daughter, nourished : and
she was given to Jormunrek the Mighty. Now Bikki was
a man of his, and gave such counsel to Randver, the king's
son, as that he should take her; and with that counsel
were the young folk well content.

Then Bikki told the king, and the king let hang Randver,
but bade Swanhild be trodden under horses' feet. But
when Gudrun heard thereof, she spake to her sons —

Words of strife heard I,
Huger than any.
Woeful words spoken,
Sprung from all sorrow.
When Gudrun fierce-hearted
With the grimmest of words
Whetted her sons
Unto the slaying.

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238 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

" Why are ye sitting here ?
Why sleep ye life away ?
Why doth it grieve you nought ?
Glad words to speak,
Now when your sister —
Young of years was she —
Has Jormunrek trodden
With the treading of horses ? —

" Black horses and white
In the highway of warriors ;
Grey horses that know
The roads of the Goths. —

"Little like are ye grown

To that Gunnar of old days !

Nought are your hearts

As the heart of Hogni !

Well would ye seek

Vengeance to win

If your mood were in aught

As the mood of my brethren,

Or the hardy hearts

Of the Kings of the Huns 1 "

Then spake Hamdir,
The high-hearted —
'•Little didst thou
Praise Hogni's doings,
When Sigurd woke
From out of sleep,

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THE WHETTING OF GUDRUN. 239

And the blue-white bed-gear
Upon thy bed

Grew red with man's blood —
With the blood of thy mate !

" Too baleful vengeance

Wroughtest thou for thy brethren

Most sore and evil

When thy sons thou slewedst,

Else all we together

On Jormunrek

Had 'wrought sore vengeance

For that our sister.

** Come, bring forth quickly
The Hun kings' bright gear,
Since thou hast urged us
Unto the sword-Thing ! "

Laughing went Gudrun
To the bower of good gear,
Kings' crested helms
From chests she drew,
And wide-wrought byrnies
Bore to her sons :
Then on their horses
Load laid the heroes.

Then spake Hamdir,
The high-hearted—
" Never cometh again

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240 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

His mother to see
The spear-god laid low
In the land of the Goths.
That one arvel mayst thou
For all of us drink,
For sister Swanhild,
And us thy sons."

Greeted Gudrun,
Giuki's daughter ;
Sorrowing she went
In the forecourt to sit,
That she might tell.
With cheeks tear-furrowed,
Her weary wail
In many a wise.

" Three fires I knew.
Three hearths I knew,-
To three husbands' houses
Have I been carried ;
And better than all
Had been Sigurd alone.
He whom my brethren
Brought to his bane.

" Such sore grief as that
Methought never should be^
Yet more indeed
Was left for my torment
Then, when the great ones
Gave me to Atll

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THE WHETTIMG OF GUDRUK 241

*' My fair bright boys
I bade unto speech,
Nor yet might I win
Weregild for my bale,
Ere I had hewn off
Those Niblungs' heads.

"To the sea-strand I went
With the Noms sorely wroth,
For I would thrust from me
The storm of their torment ;
But the high billows
Would not drown, but bore me
Forth, till I stepped a-land
Longer to live.

"ThenI wenta-bed—
— Ah, better in the old days.
This was the third time I —
To a king of the people ;
Offspring I brought forth,
Props of a fair house.
Props of a fair house,
Jonakr's fair sons.

" But around Swanhild
Bond-maidens sat^
Her, that of all mine
Most to my heart was ;
Such was my Swanhild,
In my hall's midmost,
As is the sunbeam
Fair to behold.

0016

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242 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

" In gold I arrayed her,

And goodly raiment,

Or ever I gave her

To the folk of the Goths.

That was the hardest

Of my heavy woes,

When the bright hair, —

O the bright hair of Swanhild !-

In the mire was trodden

By the treading of horses.

" This was the sorest,

When my love, my Sigurd,

Reft of glory

In his bed gat ending :

But this the grimmest

When glittering worms

Tore their way

Through the heart of Gunnar.

" But this the keenest
When they cut to the quick
Of the hardy heart
Of the unfeared HognL
Of much of bale I mind me,
Of many griefs I mind me ;
Why should I sit abiding
Yet more bale and more ?

** Thy coal-black horse,
O Sigurd, bridle.
The swift on the highway I
O let him speed hither I

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THE WHETTING OF GUDRUN. 243

Here sitteth no longer
Son or daughter,
More good gifts
To give to Gudrun !

** Mindst thou not, Sigurd,
Of the speech betwixt us,
When on one bed
We both sat together,

my great king —

That thou wouldst come to me
E'en from the hall of Hell,

1 to thee from the fair earth ?

** Pile high, O earls,
The oaken pile.
Let it be the highest
That ever queen had !
Let the fire burn swift.
My breast with woe laden.
And thaw all my heart.
Hard, heavy with sorrow I "

Now may all earls

Be bettered in mind,

May the grief of all maidens

Ever be minished,

For this tale of sorrow

So told to its ending.

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244

THE LAY OF HAMDIR.

Great deeds of bale
In the garth began,
At the sad dawning
The tide of Elves' sorrow
When day is a-waxing
And man's grief awaketh,
And the sorrow of each one
The early day quickeneth.

Not now, not now,

Nor yesterday,

But long ago

Has that day worn by,

That ancientest time,

The first time to tell of,

Then, whenas Gudrun,

Bom of Giuki,

Whetted her sons

To Swanhild's avenging.

" Your^ister's name
Was naught but Swanhild,

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THE LA Y OF HAMDIR. 245

Whom Jormunrek

With horses has trodden I —

White horses and black

On the war-beaten way,

Grey horses that go

On the roads of the Goths.

" All alone am I now

As in holt is the aspen \

As the fir-tree of boughs,

So of kin am I bare ;

As bare of things longed for

As the willow of leaves

When the bough-breaking wind

The warm day endeth.

"Few, sad, are ye left,
O kings of my folk I
Yet alone living
Last shreds of my kin !

" Ah, naught are ye grown
As that Gunnar of old days j
Naught are your hearts
As the heart of Hogni I
Well would ye seek
Vengeance to win
If your hearts were in aught
As the hearts of my brethren ! "

Then spake Hamdir
The high-hearted :

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246 SONGS FJROM THE EDDA.

" Nought hadst thou to praise
The doings of Hogni,
When they woke up Sigurd
From out of slumber,
And in bed thou sat'st up
'Mid the banes-men's laughter.

" Then when thy bed-gear,

Blue-white, well woven

By art of craftsmen

All swam with thy king's blood ;

Then Sigurd died,

O'er his dead corpse thou sattest,

Not heeding aught gladsome,

Since Gunnar so willed it

"Greatgrief for Atli
Gatst thou by Erp's murder,
And the end of thine Eitil,
But worse grief for thyself.
Good to use sword
For the slaying of others
In such wise that its edge
Shall not turn on ourselves I "

Then well spake Sorli
From a heart full of wisdom :
" No words will I
Make with my mother,
Though both ye twain
Need words belike —

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THE LA Y OF HAMDIR. 247

What askest thou, Gudrun,
To let thee go greeting ?

"Weep for^thy brethren,
Weep for thy sweet sons,
And thy nighest kinsfolk
Laid by the fight-side I
Yea, and thou Gudrun,
May'st greet for us twain
Sitting fey on our steeds
Doomed in far lands to die."

From the garth forth they went
With hearts full of fury,
Sorli and Hamdir,
The sons of Gudrun,
And they met on the way
The wise in all wiles :
"And thou little Erp,
What helping from thee ? "

He of alien womb
Spake out in such wise :
" Good help for my kin,
Such as foot gives to foot,
Or flesh-covered hand
Gives unto hand 1 "

" What helping for foot
That help that foot giveth,
Or for flesh-covered hand
The helping of hand?"

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248 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Then spake Erp

Yet once again

Mock spake the prince

As he sat on his steed :

" Fool's deed to show

The way to a dastard I *'

" Bold beyond measure,"

Quoth they, " is the base-bom ! "

Out from the sheath
Drew they the sheath-steel,
And the glaives* edges played
For the pleasure of hell ;
By the third part they minished
The might that they had,
Their young kin they let lie
A-cold on the earth.

Then their fur-cloaks they shook
And bound fast their swords,
In webs goodly woven
Those great ones were clad ;
Young they went o'er the fells
Where the dew was new-fallen
Swift, on steeds of the Huns,
Heavy vengeance to wreak.

Forth stretched the ways,
And an ill way they found,
Yea, their sister's son*
Hanging slain upon tree —

* Randver, the son of their sister's husband.

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THE LA Y OF HAMDIR, 249

Wolf-trees by the wind made cold
At the town's westward
Loud with cranes' clatter —
111 abiding there long !

Din in the king's hall
Of men merry with drink,
And none might hearken
The horses' tramping
Or ever the warders
Their great horn winded.

Then men went forth

To Jormunrek

To tell of the heeding

Of men under helm :

" Give ye good counsel I

Great ones are come hither,

For the wrong of men mighty

Was the may to death trodden."

Loud Jormunrek laughed,

And laid hand to his beard,

Nor bade bring his bymy,

But with the wine fighting,

Shook his red locks,

On his white shield sat staring,

And in his hand

Swung the gold cup on high.

" Sweet sight for me
Those twain to set eyes on.

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250 SONGS FROM THE EDDA,

Sorli and Hamdir,

Here in my hall 1

Then with bowstrings

Would I bind them,

And hang the good Giukings

Aloft on the gallows ! "

Then spake Hrothglod

From off the high steps,

Spake the slim-fingered

Unto her son, —

— For a threat was cast forth

Of what ne'er should fall —

'* Shall two men alone

Two hundred Gothfolk

Bind or bear down

In the midst of their burg ? "

Strife and din in the hall,

Cups smitten asunder

Men lay low in blood

From the breasts of Goths flowing.

Then spake Hamdir,
The high-hearted :
" Thou cravedst, O king,
For the coming of us,

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THE LA Y OF HAMDIR. 25 1

The sons of one mother,
Amidmost thine hall —
Look on these hands of thine,
Look on these feet of thine,
Cast by us, Jormunrek,
•On to the flame!"

Then cried aloud
The high Gods' kinsman,*
Bold under bymy, —
Roared he as bears roar ;
** Stones to the stout ones
That the spears bite not,
Nor the edges of steel,
These sons of Jonakr I "

Quoth Sorlu

"Bale, brother, wroughtst thou
By that bag'st opening.
Oft from that bag
Rede of bale cometh !
Heart hast thou, Hamdir,
If thou hadst heart's wisdom
Great lack in a man
Who lacks wisdom and lore I "

Hamdir said,

" Yea, off were the head
If Erp were alive yet,

Odin, namely. + " Bag," his mouth.

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252 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Our brother the bold

Whom we slew by the way ;

The far-famed through the world. —

Ah, the fates drave me on,

And the man war made holy,

There must I slay ! "

Sorli said.

" Unmeet we should do
As the doings of wolves are,

Raising wrong each Against other
As the dogs of the Norns,
The greedy ones nourished

In waste steads of the world.

In strong wise have we fought,

On Goths' corpses we stand.

Beat down by our edges,

E'en as ernes on the bough.

Great fame our might winneth,

Die we now, or to-morrow, —

No man lives till eve

Whom the fates doom at mortiing."

At the hall's gable-end

Fell Sorli to earth.

But Hamdir lay low

At the back of the houses.

Now this is called the Ancient Lay of Hamdir.

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253

THE LAMENT OF ODDRUN.

n^HERE was a king hight Heidrik, and his daughter
-*" was called Borgny, and the name of her lover was
Vilmund. Now she might nowise be made lighter of a
child she travailed with, before Oddrun, Atli's sister, came
to her, — she who had been the love of Gunnar, Giuki*s
son. But of their speech together has this been sung :

I have heard tell
In ancient tales
How a may there came
To Morna-land,
Because no man
On mould abiding
For Heidrik's daughter
Might win healing.

All that heard Oddrun,
Atlfs sister,
How that the damsel
Had heavy sickness,
So she led from stall
Her bridled steed.

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254 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

And on the swart one
Laid the saddle.

She made her horse wend
O'er smooth ways of earth,
Until to a high-built
Hall she came j
Then the saddle she had ,
From the hungry horse,.
And her ways wended
In along the wide hall.
And this word first
Spake forth therewith :

" What is most famed,
Afield in Hunland,
Or what may be
Blithest in Hunland? "

Quoth the handmaid.

" Here lieth Borgny,
Borne down by trouble,
Thy sweet friend, O Oddrun,
See to her helping I "

Oddrun said,

"Who of the lords
Hath laid this grief on her,
Why is the anguish
Of Borgny so weary ? "

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THE LAMENT O^ ODDRUN, 255

The handmaid said.

" He is hight Vilmund,
Friend of hawk-bearers,
He wrapped the damsel
In the warm bed-gear
Five winters long
Without her father's wotting."

No more than this
They spake methinks ;
Kind sat she down •
By the damsel's knee ;
Mightily sang Oddrun,
Eagerly sang Oddrun,
Sharp piercing songs
By Borgn/s side :

Till a maid and a boy

Might tread on the world's ways,

Blithe babes and sweet

Of Hogni's bane ;

Then the damsel forewearied

The word took up,

The first word of all

That had won from her :

** So may help thee
All helpful things.
Fey and Freyia,
And all the fair Gods,

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256 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

As thou hast thrust
This torment from me I "

Oddrun said,

" Yet no heart had I
For thy helping,
Since never wert thou
Worthy of helping,
But my word I held to,
That of old was spoken
When the high lords
Dealt out the heritage,
That every soul
I would ever help."

Borgny said.

" Right mad art thou, Oddrun,

And reft of thy wits.

Whereas thou speakest

Hard words to me

Thy fellow ever

Upon the earth

As of brothers twain.

We had been bom."

Oddrun said.

'* Well I mind me yet,
What thou saidst that evening,
Whenas I bore forth
Fair drink for Gunnar ;

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THE LAMENT OF ODDRUN, 257

Such a thing, saidst thou,
Should fall out never,
For any may
Save for me alone."

Mind had the damsel
Of the weary day
Whenas the high lords
Dealt out the heritage,
And she sat her down.
The sorrowful woman.
To tell of the bale,
And the heavy trouble.

" Nourished was I

In the hall of kings —

Most folk were glad —

'Mid the council of great ones :

In fair life lived I,

And the wealth of my father

For five winters only,

While yet he had Ufe.

** Such were the last words
That ever he spake,
The king forev/earied,
Ere his ways he went ;
For he bade folk give me
The gold red-gleaming,
And give me in Southlands
To the son of Grimhild.

0017

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258 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

"But Brynhild he bade
To the helm to betake her,
And said that Death-chooser
She should become ;
And that no better
Might ever be born
Into the world,
If fate would not spoil it

" Brynhild in bower
Sewed at her broidery.
Folk she had
And fair lands about her 5
Earth lay a-sleeping,
Slept the heavens aloft
When Fafnir*s-bane
The burg first saw.

" Then was war waged
With the Welsh-wrought sword
And the burg all broken
That Brynhild owned ;
Nor wore long space,
E'en as well might be.
Ere all those wiles
Full well she knew.

" Hard and dreadful

Was the vengeance she drew down,

So that all we

Have woe enow.

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THE LAMENT OF OJDDRUN. 259

Through all lands of the world
Shall that story fare forth
How she did her to death
For the death of Sigurd.

" But therewithal Gunnar
The gold-scatterer
Did I fall to loving
And she should have loved him.
Rings of red gold
Would they give to Atli,
Would give to my brother
Things goodly and great

" Yea, fifteen steads
Would they give for me,
And the load of Grani
To have as a gift ;
But then spake Atli,
That such was his will,
Never gift to take
From the sons of Giuki.

" But we in nowise
Might love withstand.
And mine head must I lay
On my love, the ring-breaker ;
And many there were
Among my kin.
Who said that they
Had seen us together.

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26o SOJ\rGS FROM THE EDDA.

" Then Atli said
That I surely never
Would fall to crime
Or shameful folly :
But now let no one
For any other,
That shame deny
Where love has dealing.

*'For Atli sent

His serving-folk

Wide through the murkwood

Proof to win of me,

And thither they came

Where they ne'er should have come,

Where one bed we twain

Had dight betwixt us.

" To those men had we given

Rings of red gold,

Naught to tell

Thereof to Atli,

But straight they hastened

Home to the house.

And all the tale

To Atli told.

** Whereas from Gudrun
Well they hid it,
Though better by half
Had she have known it.

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TBE LAMENT OF ODDRUN. 261

" Din was there to hear
Of the hoofs gold-shod,
When into the garth
Rode the sons of Giuki.

" There from Hogni

The heart they cut,

But into the worm-close

Cast the other.

There the king, the wise-hearted,

Swept his harp-strings,

For the mighty king

Had ever mind

That I to his helping

Soon should come.

" But now was I gone
Yet once again
Unto Geirmund,
Good feast to make ;
Yet had I hearing,
E'en out from Hlesey,
How of sore trouble
The harp-strings sang.

" So I bade the bondmaids
Be ready swiftly,
For I listed to save
The life of the king,
And we let our ship
Swim over the sound,
Till Atli's dwelling
We saw all clearly.

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262 SONGS FROM THE EDDA.

Then came the wretch*
Crawling out,
E'en Atli's mother,
All sorrow upon her !
A grave gat her sting
In the heart of Gunnar,
So that no helping
Was left for my hero.

" O gold-clad woman,
Full oft I wonder
How I my life
Still hold thereafter.
For methought I loved
That light in battle.
The swift with the sword,
As my very self.

" Thou hast sat and hearkened
As I have told thee
Of many an ill-fate,
Mine and theirs—
Each man liveth
E'en as he may live —
Now hath gone forth
The greeting of Oddrun."

♦ Atli's mother took the form of the only adder that was not lulled
to sleep by Gunnar*s harp-playing, and who slew him.

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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PE?,SONS, PLACES,
AND THINGS IN THE STORY.

.^sir, 6 1 {et passim)
Agnar, or Audi's brother, 70
Alf, the son of Hjalprek, king of

Denmark, 39, 126
Al^ the son of Hunding, 27
Alfthe Old, king, 31, 88
Alswid, son of Heimir, 80
Andvari, son of Oinn, a dwarf, 46
Andvari*s force (a waterfall), 46
Andvari's gift (a ring), 48
Asgarth, abode of 3ie ^Esir, the

Gods, 30
Aslaug, daughter of Sigurd Faf-

nir*s-bane, 97
Atli, Budli's son, brother of

BrynhUd, 86

Bekkhild, daughter of Budli,
wife of Heimir, 80

Bikki, King Jormunrek's coun-
sellor, 154

Borghild, Queen of Sigmund
Volsungson, 25

Bravoll (a field), 30

Bredi, thrall of Skadi, i

Brynhild, daughter of Budli,
64 {et passim)

Budli, king, 86

Busil-tarn, a river, 43

Denmark, 125
Dragonkeel (a ship), 53
Dva^n, a dwarf, 02

Erp, sonof Jonakr, 151
Eylimi, King, 35

Eymod, 126

Eyolf, son of Hunding, 27

Fafhir, son of Hreidmar, 44

Feng (Odin), 54

Fjolnir (Odin), 54

Fion, 126

Fjornir, 136

Frankland, 68

Franks, 126

Freyia, 4

Giaflaug, 115

Giuki, a king, 86

Glaumyor, second wife of Gun-

nar, Giuki's son, 132
Gnoevar, son of H(^i Giukisson,

137
Gnipalund, 29
Gnita-heath, 44
Golnir, a giant, 30
Gothland, 6
Goti, a horse, 94
Gram, the family sword of the

Volsungs, 39
Grani, 30
Grani, horse of Sigurd Fafnir's-

bane, 44
Granmar, 28
Greeks, 96
Grifir (Edda Gripir)), son of

Eylimi, 52
Grimhild, Giuki's queen, 86
Grindur, 31
Gudrun, daughter of Giuki, 84

(ei passim)

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264

INDEX.

GuUrond, a daughter of Giuki,
118

Gungnir, a sword, 73

Gunnar, son of Giuki, 86 {et pas-
sim)

Guttorm, son of Giuki, 86

Hacon, father of Thora, 126

Hadding, 127

Hsenir, one of the iEsir, 152

Hagbard, 88

Hagbard, son of Hunding, 27

H^i's sons, 88

Hamdir, son of Jonakr, 151

Hamund, son of Sigmund, 25

Hedinsey, 28

Heimir, 80

Helgi, son of Sigmund, called

Hunding's-bane, 25
Helm Gunnar, a king, 27
Herborg, 115

Hervard, son of Hunding, 27
Hindfell, 64
Hjalli, a thrall, 143
Hjalprek, king of Denmark, 39
Hjordis, daughter of Eylimi, 35
Hlymdsde, 97
Hnikar, 54

Hodbrod, son of Granmar, 29
Hogni, son of Giuki, 86
Hogni, king, Sigrun*s father, 27
Holkvir (not Holkvi), the horse

of Gunnar, 94
Hreidmar, 42
Hrimnir, a giant, 4
Hropt (Odin), 73
Huginn (Odin's raven), 54
Hunding, King, 27
Huns, 2

Tarisleif, 126

jonakr, 152

jormunrek (Ermanarik), 152

Kostbera, wife of Hogni Giukis-
son, 134

Leif, a ship-captain, 28

Ljod, daughter of the giant Hrim-

nir, 4
Loki, one of the iEsir, 47
Longbeards, 126
Lowness, 30
Lyngi, king, son of Hunding, 35

Niblung, son of Hogni Giukis-

son, 148
Norfis-sound, 28
Norns (of threefold kin), 61

Oddrun, King Atli's sister, 123

Odin, I {et passim)

Oinn, 48

Orkning, brother to Kostbera,

137
Otter, son of Hreidmar, 46

Ran, the sea goddess, 47
Randver, son of Jormunrek

153
Red -berg, 28

Regin, son of Hreidmar, 42
Rerir, son of Sigi, 2
Rhine, 86
Ring, 31

Ridil, a sword, 64
Rognir (Odin), 73
Rotti, a sword, 67

Saxons, 126

Sigar, 88

Siggeir, King of Gothland, 6

Sigi, son of Odin, i

Sigmund, son of Sigurd Fafnir's-

bane, 92
Sigmund, son of Volsung, 5
Signy, daughter of Volsung, 5
Sigrun, daughter of Hogpii, 27
Sigurd, son of Sigmund, called

Fafnir's-bane, 68 {et passim)
Sin^otli, son of Sigmund, 17
Skadi, I

Sleipnir, Odin's steed, 77
Sok, an island, 31

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

Solar, son of Hogni Giuldsson,

137

Sorli, son of Jonakr, 151
Sunfells (Sunlitten hills, 26), 30
Surt, a fire-giant, 62
Swanhild, daughter of Sigurd

Fafhir's-bane, 152
Swarin's-caim, 29
Sveggjud, a horse, 30
Sveipud, a horse, 30

Thora, daughter of Hacon, 129
Thrasness, 30

INDEX.

Unshapen, a holm, 61

265

Valbiorg, 128

Vanir, 74

Varin's-firth, 28

Varinsey, 29

Vinbjorg, 128

Vingi, King Atli's messenger,

Vinskomir, a horse, 66
Volsung, son of Rerir, 5

Waldemar of Denmark, 126 .
Wolfstone, a field of battle, 31

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

BOOK LIST.

Some pains have been taken in compiling this list, in order to make
it as complete, each entry as full, and all as correct as might be. It
were idle to suppose that all the books named are equally well worth
reading. The reader, to whom all are open, will find them vary, after
the manner of books ; but this volume will go into the hands of many
to whom such free range is denied, and for their sake the list has been
made long, in the hope that it may include one book at least for all
who seek it. He who cannot buy may yet, with the help of this list
in his hand, find some one book in well-nigh any library ; where also
the index of magazine articles will guide him to much matter of learn-
ing and amusement. Deeper students have (on p. 273) direction for
further search.

Andeksen (Cabl C. T.).— Three
sketches of life in Iceland ;
tr. M. Fenton. B, Wash-
bourne j London, 1877, 8vo.

Andebson (Joseph).— /Stftf Ork-
neyinga Saga.

Andbkson (Rasmus B.) and
Bjabnason (Jon). — Viking
tales of the North. The Sagas
of Thorstein, Viking's son,
and Fridthjof the bold. Tr.
froin the Icelandic by R. B.
A. and J. B. Also Tegn^r's
Fridthiofs Saga, tr. G.
Stephens. S. C. Griggs <fc Co.,
Chicago, 1877, 12mo.

History of the literature of

the Scandinavian North, from
the most ancient times to the
present, by Frederik Winkel
Horn, Ph. D., tr. by R. B. A.,
with Bibliography of Scan-
dinavia by Thorvald Solberg.
Griggs, Chicago, 1884, 8vo.

Anderson (Rasmus B.) and
Bjarnason (Jon). — Norse
Mythology ; or, the religion of
our forefathers. Myths of the
Eddas systematised and inter-
preted, withintrod., vocab., and
index. Griggs, Chicago, 1875,
8vo.

^The Scandinavian languages,

their value, elucidated by
quotations. Madison {Wis.,
U.S.A.), 1873, 8vo.

See Edda Snorra Stur-

LUSONAR.

Anson (W. S. W.).— /See Wagner
(Dr. W.).

Arnason (Jon). — Icelandic
Legends. Tr. G. E. J. Powell
and Eirikr Magniisson. 1st
series, B. Bentley, London,
1864, 8vo. 2nd series, Notes
and Introductory Essay, lAmg-
mans, London, 1866, 8vo.

AsGRiMssoN (Eystein). — See
Maqnusson (Eiriku).

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

268

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Baeino-Gould (Sabine). — Ice-
land : its scenes and sagas.
SmiUhf Elder ^ A Co ^ London^
1863, 8va

Baknabd (Rev, M. ^,).—See
Paijkitll (C. W. von).

Babrow (John). — ^A visit to Ice-
land. . • . Summer 183d. J,
Murrayt London, 1835, 12mo.

Bbresford {Rev, Jas., M,A.).
The Sone of the Sun, a poem
of the Eleventh Century, from
the Elder Edda, imitated by J.
B. With preface, notes, and a
short account of the author.
Ice., LAt., and Eng. London^
1805, 8vo.

Bibliography of Scandinavia.
— See Anderson (R. B.).

Bjabnason (Jon).— /S'ce Ander-
son (R. B.).

Blackwbll (J. a.) — See Edda
Snorra Sturlttsonar.

Burton (R. Francis).— Ultima
Thule ; or, a Summer in Ice-
land. W, P, I{immo, Edin-
hurgh, 1875, 2 vols., 8vo.

Cassell's Illustrated Travels.
Ed., H. W. Bates. Cassell,
London, 1869-74, 6 vols, in 3,
4to. Contains Hjaltalin (Jon
A.)— Notes on Iceland (v. ii.) ;
Hekla (v. iii.) ; T. (J. E. H.)—
Journey from Reikyavik to
Ereisuvig (v. vi. ) ; V. (Lt. von) —
From end to end of Stromoe
(v. vi.).

Clark (J. W,y—See Galton (F.).

Cleasby (R.) and Vigfusson
(Gudbrand). — An Icelandic-
English Dictionary. With In-
troduction and life of R.
Cleasby by G. W. Dasent.
[Together with a Grammar.]
Clarendon Press, Oaford, 1874,
4to.

Coles (J.) — Summer Travelling in
Iceland. With chapter on
Askja by E. Delmar Morgan,
and literal translation of three
sagas: The story of Thdrdr
hreda — Banda-manna Saga —
The story of Hrafnkell, Frey's
Priest.) Murray, London,
1882, 8vo.

Conybearb (C. a. Vansittart).
— The place of Iceland in the
history of European Institutions.
Lothian prize essay. Parker
and Co., Oxford and London,
1877, 8vo.

Cooper (C. ¥,),—See Pfeiffeb
(I. R).

Cottle (A. S.) — See Edda
Saemundar.

Dasent {Sir G. Webbe).— Jest
and Earnest. Chapman <£; Roll,
London, 1873, 2 vols., 8vo.

The Story of Burnt Njal ; or,

life in Iceland at the end of the
tenth century. From the Ice-
landic of the Njals Saga.
Ednwnston ds Douglas, Edin-
burgh, 1861, 2 vols., 8vo.

Thd' Story of Gisli the Out-
law. From the Icelandic E,
<fc D,, Edin,, 1866, sm. 4to.

^The Norsemen in Iceland. In

Oxford Essays. Parker, Lon-
dout 1858, 4 vols, 8vo.

The Vikings of the Baltic. A

tale of the north in the tenth
century. 2 vols. Chapman,
London, 1875, 8vo.

See also Edda Snoera Stur-
lttsonar. See also Rask (R.C.).

De Fonblanque {Miss C, A,).—
Five weeks in Iceland. Bentley,
London, 1880, 8vo.

Dillon {H<m, A. K D. ; Vis-
count), — A Winter in Iceland
and Lapland. Colbum, London,
1840, 2 vols., 12mo.

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

BIBLIOGRAPHY,

269

Domestic Scenes in Greenland
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Voorst, London, 1850, 16mo.

DiTFFEKiN (F. T. H. Black-
'wood, Earl of). — Letters from
High Latitades, being some
account of a voyage ... to
Iceland. . . . Murray, London
(fifth edition), 8vo, 1867.

Edda Saemundar. — Icelandic
poetry, or the Eddaof Saemund,
tr. into English verse, by
A. S. Cottle. N, Briggs, Bris-
tol, 1797, 8vo.

Edda Saemundar hins froda.

The Edda of Saemund the
learned; tr., etc., by Ben.
Tliorpe, TriUmer, London,
1866, 2 vols,, 8vo.

See also Vigftjsson (G. ), and

Powell (F. T.)—See Volsttnoa
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See Berbsford {Eev. J as.)

Edda Snorra Sturlxjsonar. —
The Prose Edda, tr. by J. A.
Blackwell. In Mallet (P. H. ).
Northern Antiquities. Bohn
(Antiq. Lib.), London, 1847,
12mo.

The Prose or Younger

Edda . . . tr. by G. W.
Dasent, Stockholm, 1842, 8vo.

-- — The Younger Edda : also
called Snorre^ Edda, or the
prose Edda. Tr., with notes,
etc., by R. B. Anderson.
Origgs A Co., Chicago, 1880
[1879], 8m

See also Snorri Sttjrlttson.

Fenton (Myfanwy). — See
Andersen (Carl C. T.)-

Forbes (C. Stxjart). — Iceland ;
its volcanoes, geysers, and gla-
ciers. Murray, London^ 1860,
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Galton (Feas.). — Vacation.
Tourists and notes of travel in

1860-61-62-63. Maemillan, Lon-
don, 1861-4, 8vo. {cmdains, 1860,
Journal of a Yacht voyage to the
Faroe Islands and Iceland. By
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GisLi Saga Sursonnar. — See
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Grettis Saga. — See Maonttsson
(Eirier) and Morris (Wm.).

Grimm (J. L. C. ). -- Teutonic
Mythology. SonnenscTiein, Lon-
don, 1880, 8vo.

GuNNLAUGs Saga Ormstunoa ok
Skdld-Hrafns. —See Maonitsson
(Eirikr) and Morris (Wm.).

Handbook for travellers in Den-
mark and Iceland. Murray,
London, 1858, 12mo.

Head {Sir Edm. W.).-^Viga
Glums Saga. The story of Viga
Glum, tr. from the Icelandic.
Williams A Norgaie, London,
1866, 8vo.

Headley (Ph. C.).— The Island
of Fire. Lee <fc Shepard, BoS'
ton, 1875, 12mo.

Henderson {Jtev. E.)— Iceland ;
. the journal of a resident, 1814
and 1815. Oliphant, Edin-
burgh, 1818, 2 vols., 8vo.

Herbert {Hon, Wm.). — Select
Icelandic poetry ; tr. , with notes.
2 parts. London, 1804-6, 8vo.

Historical (An) and descriptive
account of Iceland, etc. {Anon,)
Edinbro* Cabinet Library, vol.
28, 1830, 12mo ; and Harper,
New York, 1842, 16mo.

Hjaltalin (Jon Andriesson). —
The 1000th Anniversary of the
Norwegian Settlement in Ice-
land (a sketch of the colonisa-
tion and general history of
Iceland). Reykjavik, 1874, 8vo.

See Rask (R. K.).— /See Ork-

NEYiNGA Saga. — See Cassbll.

Holland ( W. J. ) — See Peaks, etc.

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

270

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Hooker {Sir W. J.)— Journal of
a tour in Iceland, 1809. Long-
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8vo.

Horn (F. W,).— /S'ee Anderson
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HoRREBOV (KiELs). — Natural
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HowiTT (M. B. & W.).— Litera-
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Johnstone (James). — Anecdotes
of Olave the Black, King of
Man . . . By Snorro Sturlxj-
SON, now first published in the
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Krakumal. Lodbrokar

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Antiquitates Celto-Norman-

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JoNSSON (Arngrimr). — A briefe
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Icelander. — Memoir of the
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Latin). By an Icelander.

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Keart (C. F.).— Mythology of

the Eddas. Longmans, London,

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(Jas).
Laino {^.y—See Snorri Stur-

LTJSON.
LODBROCKAR-QXJIDA. — See JOHN-

STONE (Jas).

Lock (C, G. W.).— The Home of
the Eddas. With chapter on
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Lock (W. G.).— Guide to Iceland.
Charlton, 1882, 8vo.

Askja, Iceland's largest vol-
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Lund (H,).— /S'ee Rask (R. K.).

Macdowall (M. W.). — See
Wagner (Dr. W.).

Mackenzie (Sir G. S.).— Travels
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mer 1810. W, <fe R. Chambers,
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Mackinley {!>,),— See Syming-
ton (A. J.).

Magnus (Olaf). — See Olaus
Magnus.

Magnusson (Eirikr). — The
story of the Volsungs and Nib-
lungs, with certain songs from
the Elder Edda : tr. by E. M.

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

271

and William Morris. Ellis,
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-Lilja (the Lily), an Ice-
landic religious poem of the
14th century, by Asgrimsson
(Eystein). Ed., with met.
trans., by E. M. Williams &
Norgate, London, 1870, 12mo.

and Morris (Wm.). — The

story of Grettir the Strong
(Grettis Saga). Tr. from the
Icelandic. Ellis, London, 1869,
870.

Maonusson (Eirikr) and
Morris (Wm.). — Three
Northern Love-stories and other
tales. (Gannlaug the Worm-
tongue ; Frithiof the bold ;
Viglund the fair ; Hogni and
Hedinn ; Roi the fool ; Thor-
stein Staff - smitten.) Ellis,
London, 1876, 12mo.

Thomas Saoa Erkibtskups.

Life of the Archbp., Thos. A'
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trans., notes, and exhaustive
glossary by E. M. Longman,
London, 1876, 2 vols., 8vo.

Viking tales. See Arnason

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Mallet (P. H.). — See Edda
Snorra Sturlusonar.

Mathias (T. J.).— The Garland
of Flowers; composed of Cupid
and Psyche, from the Golden
Ass of Apuleins, and of Odes,
chiefly from the Norse tongue.
New Fork, 1806, 12mo.

Metcalfe (Fred. ). — The English-
man and the Scandinavian ; or,
a comparison of An^lo-Saxon
and Old Norse literature.
TrUbner, London, 1880, 8vo.

The Oxonian in Iceland,

summer I860.- Hotten, London,
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Metcalfe (Fred.).— The Saxon
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Miles (Pliny).— Nordurfari ; or,
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Morris (Wm.). — The story of
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Murray (J.)— Handbook for . . .
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Olafsson (Eggert) and Palsson
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Oswald (Miss E. J.).— By fell and
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Ottb (Emily C.).— Denmark and
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Digitized by VjOOQ IC

272

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PAL8S0N (BjARNI).— /Sfe^ OlATS-

soN (Egqert).

Peaks, passes and glaciers;
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(E. T.)., A tour in Iceland,
summer 1861). Ed. E. S. Ken-
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PSroy(T., Bp.ofDromore).— Five
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Pfbiffbr (Ida. L.).— Journey to
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PiooTT (Gren.). Manual of Scan-
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FIJSSON (GuDBRAND).

Powell (G. E. J.).— ^ee Arnason
(Jon).

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soN (G.) — /S'ee Johnstone (J as).

Bask (Rasmus Kristian). —
Grammar of the Icelandic or old
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Titles of works and names of
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0018

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

274

BIBLIOGRAPHY,

with references showing the
press-mark, title, date, etc., of
the volnme in which each work
cited will be found in the
Library of the British Museum.
Manuscript, Catalogue Desk.
Brit. Mus. Lib.
See also Publications of the
Islenzka Bdkmentafilag, Copen-
hagen.

Magazine and other articles
relating to Iceland,

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Geikie). Nature, 1881, 605.
Annals of L (W. Fiske). N, Y,

Nation, 1880, 68.
Bishops of L, Early. Christ,

Remem,, 1868, 311.
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1867, 198.
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559.
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1862, 115.
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Brit., 9th edition, 18S1.— (C.

Lottner) Fraser, 1861, 190.

—Knick,, 1847, 294.— -For.

Q. 1827, 210.— Ethic Ideas

of the E. (Karl Blind), Dub,

Univ, Mag., 1878, 392, 520.—

Free trans, from . . . E. (E.

Head), Fraser, 1865, 370.—

Rhymes from E., Duh, Univ.

Mag., 1853, 678.— Symbolism

of E., Nat. Q., 1866, 67. -E.

doctrine audits origin. — For. Q.,

1827, 210. .
Egills Saga (Eng. epitome by E.

W, Gosse), Corn,, 1879, 21.

Eruption of Mt. Hecla in 1845,
Bub. Rev., 1848, 1.

Eruptive Phenomena of I. (J.
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Flora of I. (W. L. Lindsay).
Ed. New Philos. J, 1861, 64.

Geysers of I., Penny M., 1833,
473; St. James's Mag., 1862,
334.— Visit to G. of I., Ev, Sat,,
1868,487. G. Action of, Weston.,
1857, 207.— G., and how they
are explained (J. Le Conte),
Pop. Sci, Mo., 1878, 407.

Hecla, Mount, Penny M., 1833,
495.— Ascent of Mt, H. (G. F
Rodwell), Nature, 1878, 596 ;
Chanib, J., 1867,407.— Descrip-
tion of Mt. H.(S. Baring-Gould),
Once a week, 1867, 657.— Erup-
tion Mt. H. in 1845, Biib, Rev.,
1848, 1.— Lavas of Mt. H. (G.
F. Rodwell),- Nature, 1879,
280.

Home Life of old Norsemen.
Dub, Univ, Mag., 1869, 465.

Impressions of I. (Jas Bryce).
Com,, 1874, 553

Ibn Fozlan. — Description by an
eye-witness of the incineration
of a Norse chief, early part 10th
Cent. Soc, Ant. Proc, Ediru
1873, 518. .

Iceland (geog.'and descrip., H. A.
Hjaltalin ; lit. and hist., F. Y.
Powell), Encyc, Brit,, 9th ed.,
1881.— (Syd. Smith), Ed, R&o.,
1804, 334.— (A. Trollope), i^br^w,
1878, 175.— (Sir D. Wedder-
burn), l^th Cent., 1880, 218.—
Chamb. J., 1875, 1i\,—Dub,
Univ. Mag., 1874, 349.—
Eclectic R., 1862, 114.

I. and its Phenomena. — Lond,
Quart,, 1863, 121.— I. and Faroe
Islands, Visit to (R. Chambers),
Chamb. J,, 1855, 129-282 — I.

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

«75

and its geysers, SL Jamts^s
Mag,, 1862, 884.— I. and the
Icelanders, Christ Itememb,,
1852, 226.— iVew?. Eng, Mag,,
1831, 311. — I. and its explorers.
Ed. Bev,, 1876, 222—1. and its
physical cariosities, Brit,
Quart., 1861, 626.— In I. (E. J.
Oswald), Good JFords, 1876,
472, 648, 682. — I. in the year
1000, Fraser, 1852, 643.— I. in
the year 1100, Ed. Rev,, 1861,
425.— To I. (Mrs. Blackburn),
Good Words, 1879, 429-622.—
What I saw in I., Eclectic Mag.,
1862 (t. i.), 618.— Physico-geo-
graphical sketch of I., Westm.,
1849, 264.

Icelanders. Pmny M., 1833, 442,
462.

Irish monks and the Norsemen
(H. H. Howorth). B. His. Soc
Trans,, Zond,, 1880, 281.

J6n J6nsson's Saga : the genuine
autobiography of a modern Ice-
lander, ed. by G. R. F. Cole.
Fraser, 1877, 1.

Journey into I. (S. Baring-
Gould). Good JFords, 1867,
87.

King of I. Colhum, 1S62, 118.

Legendary Lore of I. Westm.,
1866, 122.

Legends, Icelandic. Dub. Univ.
Mag., 1864, 66.

Literary Societies of I. For. Quart.
1831, 41.

Literature, Icelandic. Nat. Quart. ,
1870, 256—1874, 61. Origin
... of I. hist. lit., Am. Eclectic,
1841, V. i., 446, V. ii. 131.—
Ancient I. L.,^m. Church Bev.,
1872, 274.— I., L. ixi,EncyBrit,
9th edition, 1881.— Northern
L., Dub. Bev. 1850, 354—1852,
112,-^Eclec. Bev. 1852, 592.—

Old N. L., Am^ Whig. B»v.

1845, 250.

Lore and Scenery, Icelandic. Dub.
Univ. Mag., 1863, 469.

Millenary of I. Nature, 1874,
279.

Modern I., autobiography of J(Sn
JiSnsson. Eraser, 1877, 1.

Moors of I. (D. Eer). Appleton,
1878, 88.

Mythology, Scai^dinavian. West-
minster, 1854, 811.; Dublin
Beview, 1862, 112. (H.
Wheaton) ; No. Am., 1829, 18.
S. M. and the nature of its
analogy. Blackwood, 1886, 25.

Northern M. Dub. Univ.

Mag,, 1838, 86 ; Westm., 1854,
311.— Old Norse M. Dub. Univ.,
1872, 481, 599.

Norse. Our N. forefathers (C.
Kingsley). Overland, 1874, 88.
N. element in later English
history. (R. K Thompson).
Benn. Mo., 1870, 241.

Northmen. (Mrs. L. M. Child.)
JlowUes Jnl., 1847, 163. N.,
Heathen and Christian. Blackw.
1869, 323 ; Eclec Mag., 1869
(v. 2), 697, (v. 3) 64. History
of the N. (W. Irving.) No.
Am. Bev., 1832, 342; Am.
Quart,, 1881, 811; Westm,,
1831, 442.

Odin, The Northern God of War.
Every Saturday, 11, 79.—
Wodan, the Wild Huntsman.
(K. Blind). Gent. M,, N.S.,
25, 32.

Odinic Songs in Shetland, Dis-
covery of. (Karl Blind.) ly^A
Cent, 6, 1091.

Olaf the Sinner and Olaf the
Saint, i^eod Words, 1862, 23.

Poetry, Early Norse. Dub. B.,
1850, 78.

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276

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Unvv. Mag,, 1871, 864.
Sagas and Scenes, Icelandic. Dtib,

Univ. Mag,, 1863, 459.
Saga, Faroese. Blackw,, 1869,

618, 701.
Saga of King Hjorward's Death.

(M.L. Woods.) ifocmiZ., 1880,

353.
Sagas, Icelandic. (E. of Duflferin. )

Canad, Mo., 1872, 650. Lcmd,

Q„ 1871, 86.
Sagas of the Kings of Norway.

EclecBev., 1860,631.
Sea-kings at Home. Chamb, Jul,,

1869, 254.
Sigurd, The story of, and its

Sources. (F. Hueflfer.) Oent.

M., N. S., 1877, 46.
Sulphur in I. Dvib. Univ. Mag.,

1874, 897.

Summer in I. Chamb. J,, 1869,

27.
Thor and the Giant Thrym. {Tr.,

R. B. Anderson.) Overland,

1875, 295. —Thor and the
Giants. HouseJwId Words,
1857, 282.— Thor's Hunt for his

Hammer: a Norse Poem. Once

a Week, 1861, 125.
Tree of Existence, Teutonic. (Karl

Blind.) Fras&r, 1877, 101.
Vatna Jokull, on the. (W. L.

Watts.) Fraser, 1874, 693.
Viking's Ransom. Tinsley'8,1%77,

638.— Viking's Ship. (J. H,

Stone.) Good Words, 1881.

759 ; BeUc. Engin., 1880, 320.

—Vikings Skin. (D. Cook.)

Once a Week, 1867, 49.
Visit to I. 1857. (J. W.

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429; (v.ii.), 118, 344.
Vital Statistics of I. (P. A.

Schleisner.) Jour. Stat. Soe.

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the. [1811-1813.] (D. GUd-

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1818: 96,169,414.
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Hjaltalin.) JEdin. JrU. of Juris-

jprudence,W2, 606.

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